CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT, 


AND 


THE     L  A.  W 


IN  THREE  PARTS. 


BY  JOHN  STOLZ,  M.  D., 


.. 


AUTHOR  OF  A  "  TREATISE  ON  THE  HUMAN  FIVE  SENSES,      PRACTIS- 
ING PHYSICIAN  AND  SURGEON,  LECTURER  ON  PHYSIOLOGY, 
HYGIENE,  MENTAL  TRAINING,  &C.,  &C. 


PUBLISHED  BY  SUBSCRIPTION  ONLY. 


\JNION     PUBLISHING     COMPANY, 

335  WABASH  AVENUE,  CHICAGO,  ILLINOIS  ;   179  WEST   FOURTH   STREET, 
CINCINNATI,  OHIO. 

A.    L.    BANCROFT    &    CO., 

SAN  FRANCISCO,  CAL. 


DEDICATION. 


TO  THE  PEOPLE  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES, 

WHO  ARE  ACCUSTOMED  TO  REFLECTION, 

ESPECIALLY  THOSE 

Who   Have  Their  Own,   as    Well  as   the  Welfare  of  Their  Fellow-man  at  Heart 
TO  THE  PARENTS  OF  THE  RISING  GENERATION, 

A  nd  to  all  Educators,  whose  Business  it  is  to  point  out  the  Right  Road  in  which  Mankin 

should  go  ; 

THIS  VOLUME 

IS     RESPECTFULLY    INSCRIBED    BY 

THE  AUTHOR. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1873,  by 

EDGAR  s.  DKGOLYER, 

in  the  office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress  at  Washington. 


OTTAWAY,  BROWN  &  COLBERT, 

PRINTERS. 
1  &  9  So.  Jefferson  St.,  Chicago'  111. 


Stereotyped  by  the 

CHICAGO  TYPE  FOUNDRY, 

139  &  HI  Monroe  Street. 


PREFACE 


After  writing  a  book,  it  seems  as  necessary  for  the  author  to  so- 
licit the  courteous  attention  of  the  reader  to  its  pages,  in  a  few 
prefatory  remarks,  as  it  is  when  forming  the  acquaintance  of  a 
stranger  to  be  introduced  by  one  already  acquainted  with  the  per- 
son whose  society  is  sought.  In  this  duty  I  take  great  pleasure, 
hoping  that  those  who  peruse  this  volume  may  realize  much  profit, 
as  thus  my  object  will  be  attained. 

The  prevalence  of  crime  in  general,  and  the  many  murders  in 
particular,  at  the  present  time,  was  the  actuating  motive  which 
induced  me  to  attempt  an  inquiry  into  the  cause  and  effect  of  this 
sad  grievance,  and,  if  possible,  to  point  out  a  more  successful 
treatment,  a  sure  means  of  preventing  crime,  and  a  better,  more 
humane  method  of  treating  the  criminal  than  has  hitherto  been 
employed.  The  idea  that  the  infliction  of  the  death  penalty  for 
capital  crime  is  either  a  preventive  measure  or  a  protection  to  so- 
ciety is  fully  discussed,  and  shown  to  be  utterly  false,  unnatural, 
and  an  incentive  to  crime,  and  its  speedy  abolition  strongly  urged. 
I  have  also  endeavored  to  point  out  correct  principles,  by  which 
the  laws  of  man  may  be  made  to  harmonize  with  those  of  God 
and  nature ;  and  have  striven  to  create  a  popular  sentiment  with 
a  view  to  bring  about  a  general  reform. 

The  work  which  I  have  undertaken  is  an  attempt  only  to  de- 
fend the  truth,  and  to  fill  a  certain  vacancy,  which  at  the  present 
epoch  seems  to  be  widely  felt.  I  offer  no  excuse  for  a  murderer, 
or  in  any  manner  shield  crime,  but,  on  the  contrary,  am  in  favor  of 
a  rigid  enforcement  of  the  law.  So  long  as  capital  punishment  is 
the  law,  let  it  be  enforced ;  but  I  contend  that  the  law  is  wrong, 
and  should  therefore  be  repealed.  I  have  labored  studiously  to 
set  forth  in  .clear  and  pointed  language  the  natural  causes  which 
induce  men  to  commit  crime,  and  the  just  punishment  and  ration- 
al means  of  prevention  which  have  never  before  been  presented  to 
the  public  in  the  same  light. 

3 


4  PREFACE. 

For  my  standpoint  of  reasoning,  I  have  selected  the  science  ol 
physiology,  which,  doubtless,  is  the  starting-point  of  all  human  ac- 
tion. The  moral,  the  intellectual,  and  the  emotive  natures  of 
man  are  governed  by,  and  must,  therefore,  be  studied  in  connec- 
tion with,  the  laws  which  govern  physical  existence.  Man  is  a 
creature  of  education,  governed  wholly  by  circumstance ;  his  sur- 
roundings make  him  what  he  is.  The  law  of  pliancy  is  as  much  a 
law  of  the  mind  as  of  the  body,  and  is  fully  discussed  in  this  vol- 
ume. It  is  held  in  these  pages  that  mind  is  a  physical  force  ;  that 
all  knowledge  is  derived  from  the  external  world ;  that  crime  is 
the  result  of  an  unbalanced  condition  of  the  mental  and  physical 
constitution,  either  hereditary  or  acquired;  that  the  treatment  of 
crime,  to  be  right,  must  be  reformative  and  reparative ;  that 
man's  laws  must  agree  with  the  laws  of  physiology,  which  are  also 
laws  of  nature ;  that  all  corporal  punishment  is  contrary  to  the 
laws  of  nature ;  that  society  is  largely  responsible  for  the  many 
crimes  committed,  and  that  it  is  in  duty  bound  to  enforce  the  prin- 
ciples set  forth  in  this  volume ;  that  education  must  be  made 
compulsory ;  that  all  wrong  actions  on  the  part  of  man  are  the 
fruit  of  ignorance,  moral  and  physical  depravity,  and  the  only 
remedy  is  in  the  universal  education  of  the  people,  and  the  cer- 
tain enforcement  of  the  laws ;  that  it  is  a  duty  of  the  state  to  es- 
tablish reformatory  prisons  and  educational  institutions;  that  it 
costs  the  people'more  to  try  and  punish  criminals  than  to  educate 
and  reform  them,  to  be  successful  in  which  we  must  understand 
and  obey  first  principles.  These  are  some  of  the  topics  which 
are  discussed  in  this  volume. 

I  have  endeavored  to  avoid  all  sectarian  ideas,  or  such  as  are 
inclined  to  a  weak  sentimentalism.  I  have  studiously  labored  to 
follow  the  teachings  of  science  upon  the  subject  in  hand,  believ- 
ing that  the  matter  has  never  received  that  unbiased  attention 
which  it  strenuously  calls  for,  and  which  an  appeal  to  reason,  and 
a  right  use  of  the  knowledge  we  have  of  human  nature,  will  af- 
ford. 

The  book,  to  be  appreciated,  must  be  carefully  read,  chapter  by 
chapter  ;  and,  to  be  understood  well,  it  must  be  studied. 

Whatever  criticisms  may  be  offered  by  the  public,  I  hope  will 
be  given  in  the  most  liberal  sense,  and  in  as  kindly  a  spirit  as  that 
which  actuated  the  author  in  its  composition. 

JOHN  STOLZ,  M.  D. 


OF  CONTENTS 


PART  FIRST. 


MURDER  AND  CRIME 


CHAPTER  I 


CAUSE  OF   CRIME. 


PAGE. 

Opening  Lines 15 

Primary  Laws  of  Nature. 16 

Different  Ages  or  Epochs  of  Time  17 

Progress  of  Events. 18 

The  Child  a  Blank  at  Birth 19 

Color  of  Hair  and  Eyes 20 

The  Advanced  Thinker  or  Philos- 
opher  21 

Definition  of  Crime 22 

Wonderful  Observations 23 

A  Reasonable  Conclusion 24 

The  Child  a  Counterpart  of  the 


PAGE 

Parents  ._ 25 

Is  Man  a  Free  Agent  ? _  26 

The  Author's  Position  Sustained.  27 

Feeble-Minded  Persons 28 

Why  we  Seek  the  Society  of  One 

Another _ 29 

What  Distinguished  Writers  Say  30 
An    Explanation    Easily    Under- 
stood   31 

Our  Surroundings  and  Conditions, 

and  the  Story  of  a  Barber 32 


CHAPTER  II. 


ORGANS    OF   THE    BRAIN    AND    THEIJR  FUNCTION. 


On  the  Activity  Called  Life 33 

No  Traces  of  Mind  in  the  Lower 

Forms  of  Creation _  34 

Mind  a  Physical  Manifestation. __  35 
On  the  Mysterious  Operations  of 

God •_ 36 

Harmony  Among  the  Faculties ..  37 
Woman— The  Heart— The  Brain 

— The  Causes  of  Discord _  38 

Unhappy  Associations  with  Wo- 


men and  Men 39 

Inattention  to   Bodily   Health — 

Anger _ 40 

Torture  of  a  Wife — A  Little  Broth  41 

If  a  Man  Breaks  his  Leg ...  42 

A  Physiological  Maxim 43 

A  Weil-Balanced  Education 44 

Principles  with  which  we  have  no 

Right  to  Interfere 45 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  III. 

CONSTITUTIONAL    PREDISPOSITION    TO  CRIME. 


PAGE. 

Our  Trip  to  New  York — Two 
Happy  Men 46 

Conversation  Between  a  Lawyer 
and  A  Doctor ___  47 

The  Murderer  Williams.  _ 48 

The  Family  that  had  a  Predisposi- 
tion to  Steal 49 

Physical  Laws — Depravity — The 
Monomaniac — The  Clergy 50 


PAGE. 

The  Morris  and  the  Gill  Family.  51 
Two  Years  After — Conversation 

with  a  Lady 52 

Three  Classes  of  Persons  who  Com- 
mit Crime 53 

He  Fixed  on  a  Night 54 

A  Little  Instruction  Required 55 

One  who  would  have  Stolen  the 

Money 56 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  TWO  PATHS  OF  THE  CHILD. 


Two  Boys  of  Equal  Rights _  57 

The  Boy  on  the  Left-hand  Path. .  58 

The  Boy  on  the  Right-hand  Path  59 

I  low  to  acquire  a  Second  Nature.  60 

Every  Step  you  Take 61 

One  Step  in  Advance  _ 62 

Behold  a  Man! 63 


Black-legs — The  Literature  of 

To-day 64 

The  History  of  a  Man  on  an  Ad- 
joining Farm _  64 

Our  Hero  on  the  Left-hand  Path  66 

The  End  of  the  Two  Boys 67 


CHAPTER  V. 
ON  MAN'S  SOCIAL  NATURE. 


I  low  we  are  Disappointed _  _     68 

What  Money  can  Buy — Respect- 
able Society _.  69 

Fifty  or  a  Hundred  Dollars  per 
Month _  70 

The  Social  "  Rings" — Statesmen 


— Farmers — Mechanics,  etc 71 

Social  Propensities  and  How  to 

"  Get  a  Little  More" 72 

Law  and  Order — The  Physician.  73 

Where  we  Lay  Crime 74 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE  WORKING  MAN. 


Capital  and  Labor 75 

It  is  a  Physiological  Truth 76 

What  is  a  Day's  Work  ? 77 

What  Science  has  Revealed 78 

The  Eight-Hour  System 79 

Eight    O'clock,    P.  M.  — Places 

where  Criminals  are  Made 80 

Change  of  Tactics — Moral    and 


Legal  Persuasion 81 

What  we  Said  in  a  Lecture 82 

The  Death  Drink _  83 

Shall      we     Compromise      with 

.    Vice? 84 

•  New  Kind  of  Associations 85 

Woman's   Reform— A  Child  Six 

Years  Old — A  Little  Group...  86 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  VII. 


ON  ACCIDENTAL  CRIME. 


PAGE. 

Voluntary  and  Involuntary  Crime  87 

Those  who  Never  Commit  Crime,  88 
Things  in  Nature — What  is  it  that 

will  Restrain ? 89 

A  Temporary  Fit 90 

A  Train  of  Cars — Post-mortem..  91 

The  Man  and  his  Peach 92 

What  is  it  that  Overshadows  the 

Present  Era 93 

The  Gentleman  o£  Forty — Brains 

— The  Doctor — Books — Health 

and  Wealth ._ 94 


PAGE. 

The  Man  and  his  Dirk 95 

Chicago — Intrinsic  Virtue — Men 
and  Electricity 96 

The  Wickedest  Demon  of  Our 
Day 97 

"  Heigh-ho !  Captain,  Whither 
are  you  Going  ?" 98 

"  Mind  your  Business  !  I  can 
Stem  the  Tide." 1 99 

The  Majority  of  the  Present 
Generation  among  the  Break- 
ers... .  TOO 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

ON    THE   PRINCIPLES    WHICH    GOVERN  THE  ACTIONS  OF  HUMAN  BEINGS. 


IIow  Life  and  Mind  are  Created.  101 

"  It  is  not  by  Bread  alone  that  we 
Live" 102 

On  the  Faculties  and  Propensi- 
ties of  the  Mind _  103 

Knowledge  impels  toward  the 
Right 104 

On  the  Innate  Principle  which 
desires  to  be  Happy 105 

Those  who  follow  Horse-racing 
understand,  etc 106 


The  Straight  Road 107 

How  men  use  their  Best  Argu- 
ments  _. _  108 

How  Thousands  are  Persuaded..  109 

Early  Traits  of  Depravity no 

Story  of  a  Little  Six-year-old  and 

his  "Ma" ill 

Modern  Science  and  Marriage 1 12 

The  Human  Race— What  Rev. 

H.  W.  Beecher  says 113 

Nature  is  ever  True 114 


PART  II. 


CAPITAL  PUNISHMENT. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

HISTORY   AND   PROGRESS    OF   CAPITAL  PUNISHMENT. 


PAGE. 

The  only  Divine  Command  ever 
given  on  the  Subject 115 

Pagan  Nations  and  the  Death 
Penalty 116 

The  Most  Painless  Manner  of 
Killing  Men 117 

What  it  was  Fifty  Years  Ago...  118 


PAGE. 

The  Progressive  Ages  and  Capital 
Punishment. 119 

Conditions  which  have  Existed 
from  all  Time —  120 

Chaos  and  Order 121 

What  the  Masses  can  be  Made  to 
Believe..  122 


8 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  X. 


ON  PUNISHMENT  OF  CRIME  IN  GENERAL. 


PAGE. 

An  Evident  Daily  Observation  __  123 
How  to  obtain  an    Average  Ex- 
pression of  the  Conscience   of 

Men 124 

How   Happiness  is  obtained  by 

Man 125 

The  Primary  Object  of  ^11  Law..  126 
Different  Modes  of  Punishment __  127 
The  Criminal  on  his  Return  from 
Prison  ..  .128 


PAGE. 

A  Reformatory  Prison 129 

Punishment  to  be  Reformative 

and  Reparative 130 

The  question,  How  to  Prevent 

Crime? 131 

The  Criminal  and  the  Lawyer 132 

Effect  of  the  Uncertainty  of  the 

Punishment. 133 

The  End  of  the  Chapter— Read 

It  .- 134 


CHAPTER  XI. 

STATE   PRISONS  AS  A  MEANS  OF  REFORMATION. — WHAT  WE   UNDERSTAND    BY    A 

REFORMATORY  PRISON. — HOW  IT   SHOULD  BE  CONSTRUCTED,  AND 

HOW  CONDUCTED. 


Rigid    Legislation,    Crime,    De- 
pravity, etc... 135 

Nature's   Laws,   Crime,    Pardon, 

and  Punishment 136 

Qualities  Common  to  those  who 

Mingle  in  Good  Society. 137 

Story  of  a  Prisoner 138 

After  the  Day's  Work 139 

Prof.  Tyndal    and   his   Proposed 
Prayer  Test 140 


After  the  sound  of  the  "  Gavel," 
all  are  required  to  say  "  Amen," 
aloud 141 

Music  and  Prayer  in  Prisons 142 

Woman  and  her  Powers  in  giving 

Moral  Instruction 143 

Murderers'  Prisons _   144 

Educators,  Lecturers,  Clergy,  and 

Men  of  Science  who  visit  Prisons  145 
A  Deplorable  Condition 146 


CHAPTER  XII. 

REFUTATION    OF    THE    DEATH     PENALTY. —  HAVE    WE    A    RIGHT    TO    INFLICT 

PUNISHMENT     BY    DEATH? — REASONS    IRREFUTABLE. — NOT   A    SINGLE 

RATIONAL  ARGUMENT  LEFT  WHY  WE  SHOULD  KILL  TO  PUNISH. 


Our  Argument _  147 

The   Heathen   Mother    and    the 

Christian  Hangman -148 

"He  ought  to  be  Hanged  by  the 

Heels" 149 

Hanging  a  Legal  Murder __   150 

Each  Point  in  Law,  How  Ana- 
lyzed   151 

Other   Reasons    why  we   should 
Banish  the  Barbarous  Practice 

of  Hanging 152 

Life  and  Death 153 

Statement  of  Daniel  O'Connell.   154 
The  Great  Faith  in  Man  and  Vic- 
tor Hugo 155 

Discussion  of  a  Strange  Question,  156 


While  they  were  yet  Smoking  the 
Trap  Fell _  157 

Whence  the  Authority  for  a  Judge 
or  Jury,  to  say  to  a  Condemned 
Man,  "  Make  your  Peace  with 
God,  for  in  so  many  Days  thou 
wilt  be  Hanged" _  158 

Is  Capital  Punishment  an  Act  of 
Christian  Duty? 159 

The  New  Testament  and  the 
Death  Penalty 160 

Heaven  a  Condition — Hell  a  Con- 
dition  . 161 

Probationary  Time,  Conversion, 
Sentence,  and  Execution  _.  .  162 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

ON   THE    DEATH    PENALTY   AS     A   PREVENTIVE  MEASURE   OF   FUTURE    CRIME. — 
IS   SOCIETY   THEREBY   PROTECTED,  AND    SHALL    WE  CONTINUE   TO    KILL? 


PAGE. 

The  Only  Possible  Justification  of 
the  Death  Penalty 163 

A  Mere   Possibility —   164 

The  Gallows,  the  Public,  and  the 
Elixir  of  Terror 165 

We  are  all  under  the  Sentence  of 
Death, — How  does  this  Effect 
Mankind?. 166 

While  writing  a  Paragraph,  at 
One  O'clock  p.  m.,  Friday, 
March  I4th,  1873,  an  Import- 
ant Lesson  was  Administered  to 
the  People 167 

Opinions  of  Distinguished  Auth- 
ors   168 

Interesting  History  of  the  Effect 
of  Hanging 169 

Words  of  a  Murderer,  just  before 
being  Swung  into  Eternity 170 

He  began  the  Work  of  Murder. — 
The  Death  Penalty,  and  the 
Policeman 171 

Thousands  of  the  Best  Minds  are 
with  us 172 


PAGE. 

Quotation  of  Opinions 173 

The  Death  Penalty  Cheapens 
Human  Life 174 

The  Rev.  W.  H.  Thomas,  of  Chi- 
cago, on  Capital  Punishment.  _  175 

What  the  Public  Good  De- 
mands _ _  176 

How  the  Lawyers  Wrangle  and 
Quarrel 177 

A  Family  of  Six  Children  Unedu- 
cated and  Unsupported 178 

Stokes'  Case,  Justice,  Dollars  and 
Cents. _  179 

Capital  Punishment  and  the 
Press _ ..- 1 80-1 S I 

The  Insanity  Dodge  ... 182 

Great  Excitement  and  a  Cry  of 
Help 183 

Two  Hundred  Policemen  requir- 
ed to  Hang  Foster 184 

The  Reader's  Question,  "  Will  it 
Do?" 185 

A  Relic  of  Heathen  Nations,  and 
Christian  Glory. 186 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

ON     COMPULSORY    EDUCATION. — SUGGESTIONS      HOW     TO     PREVENT      CRIME.— 
PUBLIC   EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTION  FOR  THE  FRIENDLESS,   ETC.,   ETC. 

The  Great  Problem  Solved 187 

The  Old  Sore  Leg— A  Flag  of 
Distress 188 

Crime,  Symptoms,  and  the  Ra- 
tional Treatment..  . _  189 

Can  the  Healing  Potion  be  Suc- 
cessfully Administered  ? 190 

Crime,  Depravity,  and  a  Univer- 
sal Fact 191 

Murderers,  Physiology  and  the 
Common  Branches  of  Edu- 
cation   . 192 

Obligation  of  Parents,  Paupers, 
Orphans,  and  Vagabonds 1 93 

The  Tribune  and  Our  Mode  of 
Treating  Criminals 194 

Statistical  Cost  of  Trying  our 
Criminals  in  Large  Cities  and 
the  United  States 195 

A   State  Institution 196 

How  Constructed  and  how  Con- 
ducted    197 


Quotation  on  Compulsory  Edu- 
cation  _ 198 

The  Girl  of  Sixteen  and  the  Boy 
of  Eighteen 199 

The  Child — Factories  and  the 
School. 200 

The  Parents  and  a  Few  Dollars 
More _ 201 

Marriage,  Vocation,  and  Money.  202 

Prof.  Huxley,  Public  Halls  and 
Law 203 

Moral  Suasion  and  Legal  Per- 
suasion   ._ '. 204 

"  Will  this  then  be  a  free  Coun- 
try?"   205 

What  we  would  have  Remem- 
bered   206 

Physicians,  Lawyers,  Clergymen, 
and  their  Use 207 

The  Terrible  Disease  which  Per- 
vades Society,  and  how  it  may 
be  "check-mat^" 208 


10 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

WHAT  WE   KNOW  ABOUT  INSANITY: — WHO  ARE  THE   INSANE  ?  AND   SHALL  WE 
MAKE  INSANITY  AN  EXCUSE  FOR   CRIME? 


PAGE. 

Insanity  Physiologically   Consid- 
ered  209 

What  an  Insane  Man  Thinks  of_  210 

How  the  Brain  is  Exhausted 21 1 

Different  Forms   of  Mental   Im- 
pairment  - 212 

Hallucination,  Illusion,  and  De- 
lusion  * 213 

Emotional  Insanity 214 

Doctor  Maudsley  gives  an  Illus- 
tration   215 

What  it  is  that  makes  one  Com- 
mit Suicide 216 

Mania,  eithej  Chronic  or  Acute..  217 
Report  of  a  Strange  Man  ;  what 

he  declared  himself  to  be, 218 

Melancholia,    Paralysis  and  Wo- 


PAGE. 

219 


Dementia,  Idiocy,  Imbecility 220 

Massachusetts  Reports  of  the  In- 
sane  221 

A  Source  of  Criminality  and  In- 
sanity no  one  can  doubt .  222 

Overtasking  the  Intellect _  223 

A  Serious  Error 224 

Religious,  Political  and  Reforma- 
tory Gatherings _  225 

What  a  Single  Idea  may  do  for  a 

Person _ 226 

Those  who  Jump  into  the  River 
or  Put  a  Bullet  through  their 

Heart 227 

What  shall  we  do  with  the  Insane  ?  228 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

ON  CORPORAL  PUNISHMENT  IN   SCHOOLS. — IN  FAMILIES  AND   BY  THE  STATE. 


Can  we  "  Put  "  Goodness  into  the 

Child  by  the  Free  Use  of  the 

Rod -  229 

What  a  Little  Three-year-old  said 

toitsMother .--  230 

The  Child  can  Reason.— The  First 

Study  of  Parents. 231 

What  Sort  of  a  Lesson  a  Child  is 

Taught  by  Whipping  it 232 

The  Result  of  Striking  a  Man  or 

Woman  in  the  Face 233 

A  New  Method — What  we  were 

asked  by  a  Lady  while  lecturing 

in  Indiana -  234 

We  Heard  it  Whispered,  "  The 

Doctor  must  give  it  up" 235 

How  "  Mamma"  should  Act  when 

her  Child  is  Angry 236 

Our  Visit  to  the  Schools  in 

Ohio 237 

A  Paper  from  a  Medical  Journal  238 
"  I  love  it,  I  love  it,  so  merry  and 

wild,  the  artless  and  innocent 

laugh  of  the  child" 239 

What  we  Think  will  be  admitted  240 
The  Clergyman,  the  Rod,  and 

his  Bible 241 


A  Thousand  Efforts  and  Parental 
Correction __  242 

A  Heartrending  Narrative  of  a 
Christian  Father  in  Boston 243 

The  Unhappy  Father  and  his  Lit- 
tle Boy 244 

"  A  big  tear  had  stolen  down  his 
cheek,  but  he  was  sleeping 
calmly  and  sweetly" 245 

The  Little  Coffin,  a  Playmate, 
the  Father's  Hell,  his  Little 
Boy,  and  the  last  Smile _..  246 

The  Words  that  always  Sounded 
in  the  Father's  Ears 247 

Alas !  who  would  not  Weep  Tears 
ofBlood? _._  248 

A  Moral  View  of  the  Case 249 

Another  Inexcusable  Folly _  250 

A  Physiological  View  of  the  Case  251 

Eleven  Maxims  which  Every 
Adult  person  should  Commit  to 
Memory _ 252 

Eleven  Suggestions  from  the  La- 
dies' Sanitary  Association  of 
London,  Eng 253 

Why  we  Need  not  Provide  a  Hal- 
ter for  the  Adult 254 


CONTENTS.  I  I 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

ON  WEALTH,   HEALTH,   CRIME,   AND  THE  LABORING  CLASSES. — ORGANIZED  CAP- 
ITAL AND  THE  EFFECT  IT  HAS  ON  SOCIETY. 

PAGE.  PAGE. 

Subsistence  and  Preservation 255  of  Man 259 

Men  of  Capital  have   Variously  Conflicting  Opinions 260 

Organized 256  Wealth,  and  the  Chicago  Police 

Mental  Culture.  Compared  with  Force ._ 261 

Money. _.  257       A  Brave  Hand 262 

How    Society    Becomes    Unbal-  The  "  Hod-Carriers " 263 

anced __  258  The  Faculty  which  Rules  Society  264 

Ten  Millions— Intellectual  Work 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

OUR  PRESENT   JURY    SYSTEM. — PROPOSED    REFORMATION. — MURDER    TRIALS. — 
WOMEN  AS  JURORS. — CONCLUSION  OF  PART   II. 

Reasons    why    the   Grand    Jury  How  Men  spend  their  Last  Dollar  271 

should  be  Discontinued 265  Those  who  Fear  Hell  Less  than 

A  Reformed  Jury  System _  266          Men __ 272 

Opinion  of  the  Attorney  General  Recapitulation 273 

ofEngland 267       "  The  Chief  End  of  Man  " 274 

How  True  Justice  is  Attained 268       Aspirations  of  a  Young  Man 275 

Qualifications  of  Jurors 269  A  Melancholy  Sight — "  The  Sil- 

Women  in  the  Jury-Box,  and  Why  ver  Spoon" _ 276 

Not? _.-  270      One  Great  Drawback 277 


PART  III. 


THE  LA.W. 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

ON  THE  LAWS  OF  NATURE. 

Definition  of  the  Laws  of  Nature  279  Certain  Faculties   of    the   Mind 

The  Written  and  the  Unwritten  Considered. 287 

Law_._ 280  The  Ultimate  Object  of  Human 

What  we  See  when  we  Open  our  Action 288 

Eyes 281  The  High-Road  to  Happiness...  289 

The  Faculty  of  Intuition 282       Future  Generations _  290 

The  Intentions  and  Secrets  of  Na-  Human  Laws 291 

ture _ 283  Human   Actions— -Physical  Exis- 

The  Customs  of  Society 284          tence — Physiology 292 

Pleasure  and  Pain 285  Speaking  from   a   Moral   Stand- 
How  the  Body  is  Protected..   .        286           point 293 


12 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE. 

How  we  Decide  between  Right 
and  Wrong 294 

Story  about  a  Red-hot  Iron 295 

Does  Nature  Teach  that  we  shall 

not  Steal? 296 

How  Men  Differ  in  Organization  297 
Sensibility  the  Source  of  all  our 

Greatness _.  298 

Laws  of  Nervous  Sensibility 299 

Cromwell  and  Napoleon 300 

A  Multitude  of  Inferences 301 


PAGE. 

Excessive  Emotion 302 

The  Youth  and  the  Grandeur  of 
his  Hopes 303 

Innate  Powers,  Spirit  and  Body..  304 
What  Nature  says  through  a  Cer- 
tain Philosopher 305 

Intelligence  a  Ruling  Force 306. 

The    Elevation  and  Compass  of 

Thought 307 

How  Men  Differ  in  Organization  308 
Laws  Established  by  Man 309 


CHAPTER  XX. 

THE   LAWS   OF    PHYSIOLOGY    THE    ONLY   RELIABLE     STARTING-POINT   FOR    THE 
ENACTMENT   OF   HUMAN   LAWS. 


Governmental  Laws  Based  on  the 

Teachings  of  Physiology. , 310 

On  the  Commandments 311 

A  False  God 312 

Impressions  on  Mind  and  Body..  313 

A  Certain  Cause  of  Disease 314 

Savans  in  Smoky  Laboratories 315 

A  Delicate  Organization 316 

Affections  of  the  Brain 317 

A  Death  Warrant 318 

Misanthrope  and  Hypochondria.  319 
Those  who  Extract  Poison  from 

Every  Event  of  Life _  320 

That  which  Leads  to  the  Marvel- 
ous.  _ 321 

Tasso  Heard  Voices  Whispering 

his  own  Thoughts 322 

The  Virgin,  Beautiful  and  Young  323 
Of  Organs  Especially  Affected  by 

Excessive  Labor ._  324 

How  Thoughts  Absorb  the  Life..  325 

The  Poet  Santenil 326 

Orators,  Musicians,  Actors,  Phy- 
sicians, etc _.   327 

The  Kind  of  Poison  that  Killed 
him 328 


Physiology  of  Man 329 

Physiology  Defined 330 

On  that  which  Composes  our  Bod- 
ies  331 

Water  and  its  Use  in  theN  System  332 

The  Best  Kind  of  Food 333 

The  Quantity  of  Food  Required 

by  a  Healthy  Man  Daily 334 

On  Nutrition 335 

The  Digestive  Apparatus 336 

How  the  Different  Elements  of 

Food  are  Digested 337 

How  Blood  is  Formed 338 

Sounds  of  the  Heart 339 

Respiration 340 

The  Growth  of  the  Body 341 

The  Natural  Temperature  of  the 

Body 342 

Nitrogenized  and  Non-Nitrogen- 

ized  Elements  of  the  Food 343 

A  Brief  Statement  of  Facts 344 

What  Should  be  a  Law  of  the 

Land 345 

When  we  may  Expect  to  Enjoy 

the  Glory  of  Heaven 346 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

MENTAL  CULTURE,  OR  THE  LAWS  WHICH  GOVERN  MENTAL  TRAINING. 


The  Store  House  of  the  Soul 347 

The  Blockhead   and   the  School 

Room _ 348 

The  Young  Mind 349 

Basis  of  a  Strong  Mind 350 

The  Boy  and  His  Horse 351 


Spontaneous  Growth 352 

From  Dr.  Burrows' Lecture 353 

The  Boy  of  Fourteen  and  His 

Teacher 354 

"  I  See  It."  How  Beautiful !  A 

Great  Event 355 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE. 

What  is  of  Immense  Importance.  356 
College  Graduates — The  Piano. 

Greek — Latin  357 

How  Should  It  be  Done _.  358 

The  Richest  Man  that  Walks  the 

Earth 359 

A  Sad  Time — The  Garden  of  the 

Mind 360 

The  Whipped  Dog— The  Pet 

Bird... 361 

The  Child  that  is  too  Good  to 

Live _ _  362 

The  Farmer — Interesting  Reflec- 
tions  363 

The  Maniac — Why  are  We  not 

All  There 364 


PAGE. 

In  Passing  Through  a  Crowd,  etc.  365 

Power  of  the  Press 366 

City      News-stands,   Bar-Rooms, 

The  Novel,  etc 367 

Delusions  of  Mortals 368 

Why   Married    Men    Run   Away 

With  Young  Girls... 369 

The  Unguarded  Household '370 

What    Novel-Reading  can    Pro- 
duce.  372 

The  Mind  and  Barrel  of  Powder  373 
Poetry,    Music,    Stories,    Games, 

etc.. 374 

A  Glorious  Sight 375 

When  Once  the  Day  of  Probation 

is  Past 376 


CHAPTER   XXII. 

ON     THE     LAWS    OF      PHYSICAL      CULTURE — TEMPERAMENTAL     HARMONY     THE 
BASIS  OF   PHYSICAL   PERFECTION. 

Temperaments  and  Physiology..  377 

Pluman  Temperaments  Defined.  378 

The  Most  Scientific  Classification 
ever  Given -379~38o 

The  Vital,  Mental  and  Motive 
Temperaments 381-382-383 

How  the  Temperaments  May  be 
Studied 384-385-386 

How    to    Read    Character     by 
Temperamental     Indication 
387-388-3^9 

Important  Hints  by  George  Comb  390 

How  to  Cultivate,  and  How  to 
Restrain  the  Different  Temper- 
aments  _ 391 

Daily  Observation 392 

Temperamental  Condition  When 
Variously  Compounded 393 

Characteristics  of  a  Vast  Intel- 
lect  394 


A  Man  of  Genius 395 

Phrenologist  and  the  Human 
Brain 396 

What  of  the  Forty-Two  Pairs  of 
Nerves 397 

The  Tabernacle  of  the  Soul. _...  398 
A    Work     of    Three    Thousand 

Years 399 

On  the  Advantages  of  the  Temp- 
erament in  which  the  Nervous 
System  Predominates .400-401-402 

A  Vigilant  Sentinel. 403 

An  Amazing  Tenacity  of  Life 404 

Certain  Literary  Character 405 

How  to  have  great  Enjoyment  _ .  406 

A  Remarkable  Youth 407 

The  daily  Practice  of  Physicians 

attests  to  a  truth 408 

Those  who  rouse  the  world 409 

A  Happy  Ending  of  All _  410 


APPENDIX  I. 

HANGING     AS    A     MEANS   OF    GRACE. — ELOQUENT   DISCOURSE   BY   W.   H.   RYDER. 
D.D. — DOES   HANGING  QUALIFY  A   MURDERER   FOR   HEAVEN  ? — IF   IT  IS 
A   MEANS   OF   GRACE,   THE   MORE  OF   IT  THE   BETTER. — HOW 
THE   CONDEMNED   SHOULD   BE   TREATED. — THE   MATE- 
RIAL  IDEA   OF   HEAVEN   AND   HELL. 


His  Bible  Text _.  419 

What  he  says  on  the  side  of  Hu- 
manity  412 

The  Clergyman  and  the  Gallows,  413 


Pity,  but  not  Sympathy 414 

Repentance  of  Criminals _  415 

Interesting  Opinions  of   a   Con- 
demned ..  4*6 


14  CONTENTS. 

PAGE.  PACK. 

What  is  meant  by  the  word  What  of  Heaven  and  Hell 419 

"Paradise" 417  Where  is  God _  420 

How  the  Gallows  maybe  made  A  Walk  toward  Z  ion 421 

a  means  of  Grace 418 


APPENDIX  II. 

TO  HANG  OR  NOT  TO  HANG. — FROM  THE  CHRISTIAN  UNION. 

An  Anticipated  Horror 422       Laws  of  a.  number  of  Different 

Interesting      Statistical       State-  States _  424 

ment  _ 423       Murder  Will  not  Walk  Abroad...  425 

APPENDIX  III. 

PAUPERISM  AND  COMPULSORY    EDUCATION. — FROM  THE    NATIONAL  INDEPEND- 
ENT, OF   PHILADELPHIA,   PA. 

What  of  Disreputable  Parents.. _  426          Mourn 429 

A  Main  Pillar 427  Rescue  and  Reformatory  Schools,  430 

Official  Corruption 428  Jack  Sheppard  and  other  Crim- 

Our  Rulers,  and  the  People  who  inals _.  431 


PART  FIRST. 


MURDER  AND  CRIME. 


CHAPTER  I. 

CAUSE    OF   CRIME. 

Take  heed,  erring  man,  and  learn  of    those  who  by  experience  have  been 

taught ; 
Erase   from   the   mind  "  the  written  troubles,"  crime,  murder,  and  every  evil 

thought, 
And  cure  thy  brain  of  that  dreadful  malady,  which  now  weighs  down  upon  thy 

soul. 

We  are  living  in  an  age  of  the  world's  history 
which  requires  every  individual  to  live  in  obedience 
to  "law  and  order"  established  by  civilized  and 
Christian  governments.  Laws,  like  other  institutions 
of  human  construction,  have  changed  from  time  to 
time,  and  were  improved  as  rapidly  as  the  human 
family  progressed  in  their  understanding  of  human 
nature,  the  laws  of  nature,  science,  circumstances, 
and  the  surroundings  which  govern  men  in  their 
actions. 

Each   amendment  in   governmental,  and   criminal 


1 6  MURDER    AND    CRIME. 

laws  was  thought  to  be  right  and  strictly  in  harmony 
with  the  laws  of  nature,  at  the  time  of  enacting  such 

o 

amendment  or  law.  But  if  found,  after  a  few  years' 
experiment,  that  such  was  not  the  case,  farther 
amendment  was  made,  and  all  clauses  which  were 
thought  to  be  too  harsh,  unnatural,  impractical, — do- 
ing injustice  to  those  who  were  found  guilty  of  crime, 
—were  thrown  out  or  modified,  according  to  the 
judgment  and  conscience  of  a  majority  of  the  popu- 
lation of  the  community,  state,  continent,  or  country. 

And  I  am  of  the  opinion  that  this  great  work  of 
perfecting  human  institutions  will  thus  continue, 
until  ultimate  principles  are  arrived  at.  All  laws,  to 
be  successful  and  of  benefit  to  those  whom  it  is 
intended  to  correct  and  govern,  must  agree  with  ulti- 
mate and  primary  laws  of  nature.  In  proportion, 
then,  as  we  understand  those  primary  laws,  are  we 
enabled  to  construct  correct  laws  by  which  to  govern 
men  in  their  intercourse  with  each  other. 

Science,  observation,  and  experience  of  the  past, 
have  established  one  great  truth,  and  that  is,  that 
whenever  an  ultimate  principle  is  arrived  at,  in  the 
construction  of  any  doctrine  or  law,  it  will  stand  the 
test,  and  always  bring  happiness  to  the  human  family. 
The  laws  of  any  country,  which  have  for  their  object 
the  correction  and  regulation  of  human  action,  and 
to  determine  between  the  right  and  the  wrong,  are 
progressive  in  their  nature,  like  other  institutions  of 
the  world.  Few  of  the  sciences  are  known  to  be  per- 
fect ;  still  the  work  of  progress  is  going  on  steadily, 
year  after  year.  Events  follow  each  other,  and  since 
the  dawning  morn  of  human  intelligence,  reformation, 


CAUSE    OF    CRIME.  17 

/ 

inventions,  discoveries  in  mechanics,  agriculture,  navi- 
gation, and  the  various  branches  of  science,  medicine, 
and  surgery,  the  wonderful  operations  of  the  human 
mind  and  the  natural  relations  that  one  human  being 
sustains  to  another  are  gradually  becoming  more 
perfectly  understood,  and  consequently  human  hap- 
piness is  this  day  greater  than  even  a  century  ago. 

The  entire  human  family  have,  collectively  and 
individually,  labored  in  this  work  of  discovering  ulti- 
mates,  primates,  and  laws  governing  the  coporeal 
and  the  phenomena,  both  in  physical  nature  as  well 
as  in  the  realm  of  mind. 

Each  age  or  epoch  of  time  has  furnished  its 
philosophers — persons  of  a  high  susceptibility, 
mental  and  moral  impressibility,  which  enabled  them 
to  take  a  step  in  advance  of  the  masses,  and  see  in 
advance  of  them  the  incoming  of  scientific  and  moral 
reform. 

Each  improvement  was  recognized  as  a  truth  at 
the  time  of  its  advent ;  but  after  experience,  and  a 
few  years'  practice,  all  that  was  found  to  disagree 
with  the  laws  of  God  and  Nature  was  discarded  and 
allowed  to  take  its  place  among  the  things  that  were. 
Not  so  with  ultimate  principles  or  laws.  The  actions, 
discoveries,  and  legal  enactments,  as  long  as  they  are 
in  harmony  with  the  fixed  laws  of  nature,  and  are 
intrinsically  a  truth,  ever  have  stood,  and  will  con- 
tinue as  long  as  eternity  may  roll. 

The  present  era  will  take  its  place  in  human  his- 
tory marked  by  every  nation  of  the  globe  as  having 
made  greater  progress  in  scientific  investigations,  dis- 
coveries, moral  and  political  reformation,  than  any 

2 


1 8  MURDER    AND    CRIME. 

other  period  since  the  advent  of  man  on  the  earth. 
To  sustain  this  statement,  I  will  simply  cite  to  the 
reader  a  few  leading  facts.  Never  before  was  the 
road  to  knowledge  more  clear,  and  advantages  better 
for  all  classes  of  men  and  women  to  acquire,  if  they 
choose,  even  scientific  knowledge.  Ecclesiastical  and 
canonical  laws  are  almost  entirely  banished.  Men 
have  greater  freedom  of  thought.  Scientists  can 
now  give  an  opinion  without  being  restricted  by 
some  tyrant  king  or  priest.  Even  religion  is  allowed 
a  geater  field,  and  men  are  permitted  to  worship  God 
according  to  the  dictates  of  their  own  conscience, 
which  never  was  so  extensive  as  now.  There  never 
was  a  time  when  the  world  contained  so  many  scien- 
tists,— so  many  great  men  and  women  who  were  dis- 
tinguished on  the  farm,  in  machinery,  in  commerce, 
in  the  various  professions,  on  the  rostrum,  in  the 
schools,  in  reformatory  efforts,  and  in  statesmanship, 
as  now.  The  world  never  before  was  linked  together 
by  a  cable  of  cold,  inanimate  matter,  sunk  to  the  bot- 
tom of  the  ocean,  and  caused  to  hold  conversation 
between  men  at  a  remote  distance,  carrying  messages 
from  continent  to  continent  in  one  moment  of  time. 
Mountains  are  pierced,  valleys  are  bridged,  and  the 
country  traversed  by  the  locomotive  with  almost 
lightning  speed.  Oceans,  rivers,  and  lakes  are  navi- 
gated by  steam.  That  great  disseminator  of  human 
thought  and  recorder  of  human  actions,  the  printing 
press,  made  its  advent  on  this  earth,  with  its  improve- 
ments, within  the  present  period  of  the  nineteenth 
century.  The  sewing  machine,  suspension  bridges 
tunneling  of  rivers,  chloroform  in  surgery,  new  dis- 


CAUSE    OF  CRIME.  19 

coveries  in  physiology,  in  medicine,  and  other  sciences, 
are  wonderful  to  relate,  and  are  sufficient  proof  that 
the  world  is  moving. 

The  time  was  when  the  world  believed  that  per- 
sons who  transgressed  the  laws  of  the  land  were 
possessed  of  devils,  and  that  the  best  thing  that  could 
be  done  with  such  individuals  was  to  kill  them.  Per- 
sons were  believed  to  be  bewitched,  and  were  put  to 
death.  Even  now  some  of  our  religionists  believe 
and  teach  that  man  by  nature  is  "  desperately  wicked," 
and  that  he  has  no  good  within  him,  a  doctrine,  how- 
ever, which  is  fast  becoming  extinct ;  for  science  has 
revealed  to  us  that  mankind  comes  into  life  a 

BLANK, 

and  has  no  character  so  long  as  the  senses  are  not 
acted  upon,  and  so  long  as  the  young  being  is  yet 
uneducated.  The  child  is,  therefore,  only  a  rudime- 
tary  man  or  woman,  neither  good  or  bad  at  birth,  and 
whatever  he  or  she  becomes  in  after  life  depends  up- 
on the  conditions  of  birth,  or,  in  other  words,  the 
prenatal  existence.  At  the  time  when  the  being  is 
conceived  in  the  mother's  womb  a  certain  impulse  is 
given  to  the  faculties,  which,  in  after  life,  become  the 
leading  propensities,  especially  when  they  are  fos- 
tered by  the  surroundings,  habits,  associations,  and 
moral  and  intellectual  education.  This  is  a  question 
which  long  has  furnished  points  of  dispute,  but  now 
is  almost  universally  admitted  to  be  a  truth.  Physi- 
ology teaches  that  the  offspring  partakes  of  the  pecu- 
liarities and  character  of  its  parent,  not  only  in  physical 


2O  MURDER    AND    CRIME. 


strength  and  goodness  or  physical  weakness  and  dis- 
ease, but  also  of  the  mental  and  moral  predisposi- 
tion, as  is  universally  demonstrated  in  every-day  life. 
Even  in  stature,  physiognomy,  refinement  of  tex- 
ture, color  of  hair,  eyes,  and  complexion,  tempera- 
mental conditions,  and  mental  and  intellectual  powers, 
a  striking  similarity  exists  between  the  child  and  the 
parent.  It  is  a  maxim  that  the  rising  generation  is 
simply  a  counterpart  of  the  present,  and  whatever 
improvement  is  made,  or  whatever  reformatory 
achievement  attained,  must  be  made  in  the  present 
generation  ;  then  the  next  will  be  far  better,  and  so 
continue  generation  after  generation,  until  in  one 
thousand  years,  crime  and  murder  will  sink  into 
oblivion.  It  is  not  now  a  mooted  question  that 
longevity  runs  in  families.  Lung  consumption,  scrof- 
ulous diseases,  delicate  constitution,  and  shortness 
of  life  are  hereditary.  I  have  known  even  a  goitre 
or  thick  neck  to  be  peculiar  to  certain  families.  In- 
sanity, epilepsy,  and  many  of  the  diseases  afflicting 
families  are  transmitted  from  parent  to  child ;  some- 
times in  a  modified  form ;  sometimes  in  an  aggra- 
vated form.  Greater  will  be  the  sufferings  of  your 
child  if  you  violate  the  laws  of  nature  to-day,  and 
to-morrow  become  a  father  or  mother  of  the  future 
man  and  woman — a  counterpart  of  yourself.  And 
thus  we  find  that  it  is  a  scientific  truth  "that  the  sins 
of  the  parent  shall  be  visited  upon  the  children  until 
the  third  and  fourth  generation."  The  diseased  con- 
ditions of  your  offspring  will  be  modified  providing 
you  live  strictly  according  to  physiological  laws 
which,  in  the  third  or  fourth  generation,  may  result 


CAUSE    OF    CRIME.  21 

in  the  production  of  a  perfect  man  and  woman, — 
beautiful  in  figure,  healthy  in  body  and  mental  and 
moral  harmony.  Individuals  make  up  families  ;  fam- 
ilies, the  community,  state,  or  country.  Society  is 
made  up  of  individuals  and  families.  Now,  as  we 
find  physical  depravity  and  inharmonious  operations 
of  the  bodily  forces  in  the  individual,  so  will  we  find 
a  corresponding  depravity  and  inharmonious  opera- 
tion of  the  mental,  moral,  and  spiritual  forces  of  that 
individual.  Society  being  made  up  of  the  individual, 
rules  and  laws  of  society  will  correspond  to  the  exact 
degree  of  the  depravity  and  goodness  of  its  indi- 
vidual members.  Laws  of  cities,  countries,  or  states 
are  enacted  by  the  people,  and  it  is  evident  that  the 
perfection  or  imperfection  of  these  laws  correspond 
to  the  imperfection  or  perfection  of  the  people  that 
create  and  enforce  such  laws.  Whenever  it  so  hap- 
pens that  a  law  is  enacted  by  the  instrumentality  of 
a  superior  person, — an  advanced  thinker  or  philoso- 
pher, as  we  may  justly  call  him, — such  enactments 
being  many  years  in  advance  of  the  comprehension 
of  the  masses,  they  become  a  dead  letter  on  our 
statute  books  until  the  masses  can  be  educated  up 
to  that  standard  of  advanced  thought. 

Now,  before  we  can  consistently  suggest  any  change 
in  our  laws,  or  improve  our  present  manner  of  pun- 
ishment of  crime  and  murder,  it  is  well  first  to  under- 
stand the  different  causes  of  crime.  For  when- 
ever we  fully  comprehend  the  real  and  various  agen- 
cies which  induce  men  to  commit  criminal  actions, 
we  can  easily  understand  the  indications  as  to  the 
proper  means  to  be  employed  in  the  prevention  and 


22  MURDER    AND    CRIME. 

cure  of  criminal  conditions.  This  is  our  present  un- 
dertaking, and  the  first  part  of  this  volume  is  mainly 
devoted  to  the  origin  and  nature  of  crime.  Before 
we  proceed  to  a  consideration  of  the  mental  and 
moral  action  of  mankind,  jve  will  call  attention  to  a 
proper 

DEFINITION 

of  crime.  By  crime  we  understand  any  action  or 
deed  perpetrated  against  the  laws  of  the  country  by 
sane  persons,  who  are  in  the  full  exercise  of  their 
faculties,  of  proper  age  and  responsibility.  This  is  a 
popular  definition,  and  for  short  is  well  enough;  but 
we  shall  show  that  no  person  in  the  natural  and  full 
exercise  of  the  faculties  will  ever  commit  crime,  hav- 
ing knowledge  of  the  law.  A  further  definition  may 
be  interesting  and  useful.  We  copy  from  Webster 
the  following  definition  : 

"  Crime  is  an  act  which  violates  a  law,  divine  or  human  ;  an  act  which  vio- 
lates a  rule  of  moral  duty  ;  an  offence  against  the  laws  of  right,  prescribed  by 
God  or  man,  or  against  any  rule  of  duty  plainly  implied  in  those  laws.  A  crime 
may  consist  in  omission  or  neglect  as  well  as  in  commission,  or  positive  trans- 
gression. The  commander  of  a  fortress,  who  suffers  the  enemy  to  take  posses- 
sion by  neglect,  is  as  really  criminal  as  orte  who  voluntarily  opens  the  gates 
without  resistance.  But,  in  a  more  common  or  restricted  sense,  a  crime  denotes 
an  offence,  or  violation  of  public  laws  of  a  deeper  and  more  atrocious  nature  ; 
a  public  wrong, — or  a  violation  of  the  commands  of  God,  and  the  offences 
against  the  laws  made  to  preserve  the  public  right ;  as  treason,  murder,  rob- 
bery, theft,  arson,  etc.  The  minor  wrongs  committed  against  individuals  or 
private  rights,  are  denominated  trespasses  ;  and  the  minor  wrongs  against  public 
rights  are  called  misdemeanors.  Crimes  and  misdemeanors  are  punishable  by 
indictment,  information,  or  public  prosecution  ;  trespasses,  or  private  injuries, 
at  the  suite  of  the  individuals  injured.  But,  in  many  cases,  an  act  is  considered 
both  as  a  public  offence  and  a  trespass,  and  is  punishable  both  by  the  public  and 
the  individual  injured." 


CAUSE    OF    CRIME.  23 

With  this  explanation  of  crime,  we  proceed  to. 
consider  the  actuating  principles  which  induce  or 
force  men  to  commit  crime.  When  men  and  women 
of  Christian  and  civilized  birth  and  education,  with 
the  law  before  them  and  the  sure  punishment  which 
is  to  follow  any  violation  or  disobedience  to  the  law, 
still  continue  in  the  commission  of  crime,  there  must 
be  in  existence  some  force  that  impels  them  to  com- 
mit such  crime,  which  is  stronger  than  the  law  or  the 
punishment. 

In  our  investigation  of  this  subject,  we  wish  to  be 
understood  that  we  are  dealing  wholly  with  the 
physical  existence  of  man,  and  the  laws  and  actions, 
therefore,  which  govern  human  physical  life  may  be 
studied  the  same  way  that  we  study  and  learn  any  of 
the  different  branches  of  science.  During  our  inves- 
tigation of  the  various  and  mysterious  operations  of 
nature  we  have  also  extended  our 

OBSERVATIONS 

and  .examinations  into  the  field  of  mental  and  psy- 
chological phenomena,  which  operate  through  the 
human  organization.  The  ultimate  object  of  all 
learning  centers  in  the  mind;  what  it  is, whence  it  is, 
and  how  we  may  enlarge  our  knowledge  in  regard 
to  its  wonderful  operations  or  manifestations,  is  the 
work  of  mankind  and  the  great  desire  of  every 
thoughtful  person.  We  have  reason  to  believe  from 
our  knowledge  of  the  mind,  that  it  is  dependent  for 
its  generation,  or  its  creation,  upon  conditions  simi- 
lar to  those  that  electrical,  vital,  and  other  forces  in 


24  MURDER    AND    CRIME. 

nature  are  dependent  upon  for  their  generation,  and 
like  them,  is  a  physical  force. 

Certain  conditions  evolve  electricity  ;  others,  light ; 
others  heat ;  and,  as  we  ascend  the  scale,  other  con- 
ditions produce  vital  manifestations.  When  the 
conditions  under  which  these  forces  act  no  longer 
exist,  they  all  , cease  their  action.  Prevent  oxygen 
from  uniting  with  carbon  and  hydrogen,  and  the  heat 
and  light,  which  by  such  combination  has  been  evolved, 
now  ceases  its  action.  Place  a  zinc  plate  into  a  cop- 
per vessel  containing  sulphuric  acid,  and  water,  and 
electricity  is  generated.  Remove  the  acid,  and  one 
of  the  conditions  producing  it  being  taken  away,  it 
becomes  extinct.  So  with  the  mind.  Let  the  con- 
ditions on  which  it  is  dependent  for  existence  be 
withheld,  and  its  manisfestations  will  cease.  If  only 
partial  destruction  of  the  conditions  producing  these 
forces,  then  a  disturbance  of  the  harmony  or  perfect 
manifestation  is  immediately  evident.  As  in  de- 
mented persons  and  others.  When  the  conditions 
producing  mentality  are  interfered  with  in  their 
proper  action,  intellectuality  proceeds  improperly. 
Pressure  applied  to  the  brain,  will  derange  thinking, 
feeling,  remembering,  and  a  general  discord  among 
all  the  mental  operations  will  be  the  result. 

It  is  a  reasonable  conclusion,  then,  the  mind  ema- 
nating from  the  corporeal  system,  that  its  manifesta- 
tions are  physical,  and  its  characteristics  derived  from 
the  constitution  of  the  body.  All  peculiarity  belong- 
ing to  the  mind — its  capacity  to  reason,  to  make  de- 
ductions, to  analyze  the  mysteries  of  nature  and  grasp 
subjects  of  highest  magnitude  for  contemplation — 


CAUSE   OF    CRIME.  25 

mainly  depend  on  that  organ  termed  the  brain.  The 
brain,  being  the  great  center  of  the  nervous  system, 
also  imparts  energy  and  strength  to  the  intellectual 
faculties,  such  as  perception,  memory,  conception, 
reasoning,  etc.,  as  well  as  the  emulative  part  of  man  ; 
feelings  and  impulses  which  mark  his  character,  con- 
trolling and  directing  his  moral  actions  are  derived 
from  the  same  source — the  brain.  Impressions,  in- 
tended to  educate  the  faculties,  which  come  from 
outer  nature,  are  conveyed  to  the  mind  through  the 
five  senses.  The  senses  all  centering  in  the  brain,  it 
is  evident  that  intellectuality  and  mental  phenomena 
operate  wholly  through  that  organ,  and  also  mainly 
depend  for  a  proper  and  harmonious  manifestation 
on  the  healthy  condition  of  the  brain,  in  discharge  ot 
its  function  as  a  vital  organ. 

The  intimate  relation  which  exists  between  the 
mind  and  the  brain,  leads  us,  then,  to  conclude  that 
the  first  is  but  the  result  of  certain  conditions  ful- 
filled in  the  latter,  from  the  fact,  also,  that  mental 
traits  and  dispositions  are  hereditary  to  a  large  ex- 
tent. From  this,  our  readers  may  understand  that  we 
claim  that  distinguished  talents  in  parents  are  trans- 
mitted alike  to  their  children.  Of  course,  this  does 
not  always  follow,  on  account  of  a  want  of  strict  re- 
ciprocation, or  perfect  blending  of  all  the  forces  nec- 
essary for  a  perfect  counterpart,  between  the  father 
and  the  mother ;  still,  we  find  that  great  and  distin- 
guished men  and  women — minds  of  strong  capacity 
'—often  fall  in  families  of  like  powers,  and  do  not  run 
out  until  a  number  of  unfavorable  intermarriages; 
as  in  the  Lincoln  family,  Henry  Clay,  Washington, 


26  MURDER    AND    CRIME. 

and  hundreds  of  others  which  might  be  cited. 
Healthy  and  robust  parents,  who  live  to  a  ripe,  old 
age,  usually  transmit  the  elements  of  longevity  to 
their  children.  Let  this  be  decided  as  it  may,  suffi- 
cient analogy  has  been  observed  by  our  most  distin- 
guished physiologists,  psychologists,  and  scientists,  to 
enable  us  to  pronounce  with  certainty,  that  the  con- 
stitution of  the  mind  is  affected  by  the  constitution 
of  the  body ;  as  is  also  the  intellectual,  moral,  and 
social  nature.  Observe  the  children  of  depraved 
parents.  Unless  carefully  guarded,  they  will  live  a 
life  of  depravity.  There  is  an  old  proverb  that,  "-the 
apple  does  not  fall  very  far  from  the  stem."  It  is 
even  claimed  by  eminent  authors,  that  an  infant  born 
of  depraved  parents  may  be  brought  up  under  the 
influence  and  training  of  a  pious  family,  and  no  pains 
be  spared  to  develop  its  moral  feelings  and  to  re- 
strain its  natural  ones ;  that  frequently  the  result  will 
be,  notwithstanding  its  culture,  unmistakable  indica- 
tions of  depravity  when  it  arrives  at  adult  age,  though 
not  so  great  as  if  these  had  been  nurtured  through 
youth,  still,  often  bringing  disappointment  to  those 
who  have  fostered  such  children. 

After  having  said  these  things,  our  readers   may 
raise  the  question  :     To  what  extent  is  man  a 

FREE-AGENT? 

Cannot  man  control  and  make  his  own  fortune?  Is 
he  wholly  subject  to  circumstances  acting  upon  him? 
Or  can  he  not  live,  act,  and  do  as  he  pleases,  inde- 
pendent of  his  surroundings  and  external  influences  ? 


CAUSE    OF    CRIME.  27 

Can  man  truly  say,  "  this  good  thing  have  I  done 
because  I  chose  to  do  it,  and  this  evil  thing  for  the 
same  reason  ; — in  all  that  I  do,  I  follow  my  own  voli- 
tion, and  could  have  done  otherwise  if  I  had  willed 
it"? 

These  are  questions  of  great  importance,  and 
should  be  settled  among  men,  for  much  depends  on 
our  understanding  whether  a  man  is  a  "  free  moral 
agent"  or  whether  he  is  not,  as  to  the  actions  and 
government  of  the  moral  relation  one  human  being 
sustains  to  another.  These  are  questions,  however, 
which  we  do  not  propose  to  discuss  in  our  present 
undertaking,  only  to  notice  well-established  facts  in 
regard  to  the  actions  of  men  and  women  in  general. 
We  leave  our  readers  to  answer  these  questions  after 
our  task  has  been  completed. 

To  sustain  our  position,  we  might  quote  many  of 
the  best  authors  of  this  country,  as  well  as  Europe, 
had  we  the  space ;  but  as  it  is,  we  recommend  our 
readers  to  read  Lock  on  "  Human  Understanding," 
or  any  more  modern  and  scientific  work  on  the  phil- 
osophy of  the  mind,  and  you  will  find  it  a  well  settled 
fact,  admitted  by  all  who  have  given  the  subject  any 
thought,  that,  as  we  have  already  said,  as  to  the  origin 
of  mind,  man  has  nothing  to  do  as  to  the  capacity  of 
his  mind.  He  did  not  have  the  making  of  himself, 
nor  was  he  consulted  under  what  peculiar  circum- 
stances he  should  be  forced  into  life,  consequently 
his  reasoning  powers,  his  quickness,  and  the  condi- 
tions of  his  faculties,  which,  either  on  account  of 
their  natural  strength,  enable  him  to  canvass  space 
and  measure  other  worlds,  master  the  sciences  and 


28  MURDER    AND    CRIME. 

construct  new  systems  of  government,  and  discern 
order  where  there  seems  to  be  choas,  or,  on  account 
of  their  feebleness,  unfit  him  for  any  profound  reflec- 
tion, and  merely  adapt  him  to  occupy  himself  with 
those  things  which  administer  to  his  animal  propen- 
sities. Man  had  not  the  say  whether  he  should 
possess  the  one  or  the  other  of  these  conditions,  and 
yet  they  have  everything  to  do  with  his  actions. 
Those  individuals  who  look  beyond  the  mere  circum- 
stances of  their  immediate  surroundings — who  trace 
effect  to  cause,  and  contemplate  and  grasp  profound 
subjects — are  far  different  in  organization,  from  the 
fact  that  by  culture  and  education  they  cannot  im- 
prove their  condition  so  as  to  stand  equal  in  mental 
power  with  those  who  have  by  nature  a  highly  re- 
fined organization.  How  different  the  conduct  ot 
these  individuals.  However  much  they  may  differ 
in  organization,  or  in  their  general  behavior  in  life, 
it  cannot  be  said  that  the  results  are  the  consequence 
of  any  volition  on  their  part 

A  feeble-minded  person  may  think  that  groveling 
to  be  its  own  choice,  still  we  know  that  it  is  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  degree  of  power  of  the  faculties 
and  functions  received  at  birth.  Some  one  said : 

"The  man  of  great  intellect  aspires,  evea  as  the  bird  soars  aloft,  because  the 
air  is  its  natural  element.  He  cannot  grovel  whose  mind  impels  to  great  un- 
dertakings." 

Though  it  is  our  object  to  make  this  volume  strictly 
original,  it  is  well  enough  to  give  some  of  the  views 
of  others ;  yet  our  space  will  not  allow  us  to  give 
elaborate  references,  therefore  we  simply  say  that 


CAUSE    OF    CRIME,  29 

what  we  teach  in  this  volume  is  well  supported  by 
our  best  thinkers,  writers,  physiologists,  psycologists, 
and  scientists  in  this  and  the  old  country. 

To  understand  clearly  human  actions,  and  further 
consider  mental  operations,  we  are  pleased  to  give 
the  views  of  Prof.  J.  A.  Thacker,  who  is  good  author- 
ity, and  is  the  doctrine  which  will  entirely  overthrow, 
by  and  by,  our  present  mode  of  punishing  criminals. 
This  author  divides  the  mind  into  two  departments  : 
the  intellectual,  or  understanding,  and  the  emotive,  or 
effective  faculties,  consisting  of  the  emotions,  or  sen- 
sibilities. The  order  of  movement  is  the  order  in 
which  they  have  been  mentioned.  He  says  that 
"the  intellect  first  presents  an  object  which  arouses 
some  one  or  more  of  the  emotive  faculties,  and  they, 
in  turn,  call  into  action  the  movements  which  follow 
—the  will,  as  it  is  termed,  being  but  the  response  to 
that  emotion  which  is  in  the  ascendency. 

"  If  we  give  the  subject  any  consideration,  we  per- 
ceive that  there  can  not  be  any  action  without  an 
excitement  first  of  the  sensibilities,  without  some 
emotion,  desire  or  inclination  having  been  aroused. 
We  seek  food  and  drink  to  allay  the  sensations  of 
hunger  and  thirst  and  preserve  life.  We  seek  the 
society  of  one  another  to  minister  to  the  gratification 
we  receive  from  social  intercourse.  In  brief,  we  are 
impelled  in  all  that  we  do  to  perform  an  object  which 
has  its  origin  in  the  emotive  part  of  our  nature.  The 
intellect,  then,  being  antecedent  in  its  operation,  in 
the  feelings  or  sensibilities,  we  have  the  causes  of  all 
men's  actions.  But  we  have  demonstrated  that  the 
emotions  arise  in  the  brain — in  the  body — the  same 


3O  MURDER    AND    CRIME. 

as  the  other  department  of  the  mind,  the  intellect, 
and  their  character  is  fixed ;  for  as  the  constitution 
of  the  body  is,  so  must  their  constitution  be. 

"It  follows  from  what  we  have  said  that  every  act 
of  the  individual  has  its  motive,  which  has  had  its 
antecedent  in  some  previous  intellectual  operation ; 
that,  knowing  the  disposition  of  a  person,  and  the 
causes  which  have  been  brought  to  bear  upon  him, 
we  can  state  with  certainty  his  course  of  conduct  in 
any  given  matter.  When  the  result  is  different  from 
what  we  had  anticipated,  we  must  attribute  it  to 
having  been  deceived,  either  in  the  emotive  functions 
of  some  of  his  feelings  in  comparison  with  others,  or 
having  been  mistaken  in  the  antecedents,  or  both. 
But  as  a  distinguished  writer  says, '  we  never  can 
know  the  whole  of  any  man's  antecedents,  or  even 
the  whole  of  our  own  ;  but  it  is  certain  that  the  near- 
er we  approach  to  a  complete  knowledge  of  the  an- 
tecedent, the  more  likely  we  shall  be  to  predict  the 
consequent/  It  is  this  confidence  of  uniformity  of 
conduct  in  one  another,  under  given  circumstances, 
upon  which  we  rely  in  all  our  associations.  Without 
it  there  could  be  no  society. 

"  But  if  we  pass  from  the  study  of  the  individual  to 
the  contemplation  of  human  actions  in  societies,  we 
will  be  further  rewarded  in  our  researches ;  and  we 
will  find  in  our  examinations  that  the  conduct  of 
men,  as  they  make  up  communities,  under  particular 
circumstances,  is  always  the  same.  As,  for  instance, 
the  crimes  of  murder  and  suicide  occur  with  such 
regularity  that,  in  any  country,  it  can  be  predicted 
from  year  to  year,  with  very  slight  error,  how  many 


CAUSE    OF  .CRIME. 


of  each  will  take  place.  Mr.  Buckle,  in  mentioning 
this  fact,  states  that,  in  London,  about  230  persons 
annually  make  way  with  themselves;  the  number 
oscillating,  from  the  pressure  of  temporary  causes, 
between  266,  the  highest, and  2 13,  the  lowest.  When, 
in  these  offences,  we  consider  how  accidental,  in  the 
majority  of  them,  the  circumstances  seem  which  lead 
to  them,  we  are  filled  with  astonishment  at  the  re- 
sult. M.  Quetelet,  the  greatest  statistician  of  his 
day,  also  makes  mention  of  the  great  regularity  which 
takes  place  annually  in  the  number  of  the  commis- 
sions of  crime.  Mr.  Buckle's  explanation  of  these 
phenomena  is  as  follows:  '  In  a  given  state  of  so- 
ciety a  certain  number  of  persons  must  put  an  end 
to  their  own  life.  This  is  the  general  law,  and  the 
special  question  as  to  who  shall  commit  the  crime 
depends,  of  course,  upon  special  laws ;  which,  how- 
ever, in  their  total  action  must  obey  the  large  social 
law  to  which  they  are  all  subordinate.  And  the 
power  of  the  larger  law  is  so  irresistible,  that  neither 
the  love  of  life  nor  the  fear  of  another  world  can 
avail  anything  toward  even  checking  its  operation.' 
"  An  explanation  more  easily  understood,  would  be, 
we  think,  that  in  every  country  from  food,  soil,  cli- 
mate and  other  physical  causes,  a  certain  general 
character  is  begotten  among  all  the  inhabitants,  and 
in  different  communities  or  large  aggregated  masses 
of  people  in  the  same  country,  there  are  a  certain 
proportion  endowed  with  similar  characteristics  or 
affective  faculties.  Now,  since  certain  causes,  exterior 
to  the  individual,  are  acting  continually  to  arouse 
particular  traits  or  propensities  in  every  member  of 


32  MURDER    AND    CRIME. 

a  community  possessing  them,  these,  brought  into 
action,  must  produce  certain  results." 

From  the  facts  we  have  stated  in  this  connection, 

we  think  sufficient  has  been  said  to  make  it  evident 

that  the    conduct  of  men  is  controlled  by  laws — is 

•not  left  to   chance,  but  is  governed  by  law  as  well  as 

everything  else  in  nature. 

Before  closing  this  chapter,  we  would  say  that  as 
man  is  wholly  governed  by  circumstances,  surround- 
ings, and  conditions,  which  effect  him  from  all  sides, 
as  well  as  those  constitutional  characteristics  over 
which  he  has  no  immediate  or  absolute  control,  it 
may  be  well  to  suggest  that  persons  as  soon  as  they 
learn  that  they  have  an  inclination  to  steal  imme- 
diately discontinue  all  business  which  may  give  an 
opportunity  to  carry  out  such  inclination. 

We  once  knew  a  barber  who  never  could  shave  a 
man  and  not  think  of  cutting  his  throat.  This  feel- 
ing grew  so  strong  that  he  became  alarmed,  and  one 
day  made  this  statement  to  us.  Our  advice  was  that 
he  should  quit  the  business,  which  he  did  in  a  few 
weeks.  I  believe  this  saved  the  man  from  becoming 
a  murderer.  When  it  is  found  that  persons  in  any 
community  have  a  disposition  to  commit  crime,  wre 
think  that  after  we  have  so  conclusively  shown  how 
men  are  governed  in  their  actions,  that  it  is  evident 
that  all  punishment  should  be  mainly  reformatory ,. 
with  a  view  to  cure  our  unfortunate  criminals,  and 
thereby  also  protect  society.* 

*See  Part  Second,  Chapter  II. 


ORGANS    OF    THE    BRAIN    AND    THEIR    FUNCTION.     33 


CHAPTER  II. 

ORGANS    OF    THE    BRAIN    AND  THEIR    FUNCTION. 

Life  is  an  activity  manifested  upon  the  corporeal 
plane  of  action  only  through  an  organized  body, 
composed  of  organized  and  inorganized  matter. 
This  organization  becomes  more  and  more  perfect 
and  more  complicated  as  we  ascend  in  the  scale  of 
creation.  From  the  lowest  form  of  the  sea-mosses 
to  the  most  beautiful  flowers  of-  our  garden,  and  from 
the  creeping  worm  of  the  dust  beneath  our  feet  on 
up  to  the  human  mind,  where  the  most  perfect  and 
most  powerful  manifestations  of  life  force  in  the  uni- 
verse exist. 

Whenever  we  find  that  activity  called  life,  we  find 
an  organization  through  which  it  operates.  In  the 
lowest  forms  of  the  grasses  and  mosses,  life  is  scarcely 
apparent  for  the  reason  that  their  organs  are  few, 
and  mostly  single,  through  which  it  acts.  As  we  as- 
cend the  scale  of  development  in  our  observations 
among  plants,  we  find  an  increase  of  organs,  also  re- 
finement in  texture,  and  a  greater  activity  of  life.  So 
in  the  animal  creation.  In  some  of  the  lowest  forms 
of  animals,  a  single  organ  of  vitality  exists  through 
which  life  is  manifest.  Here  the  life  phenomena 
are  very  short  in  duration,  but  as  we  trace  this  force 
in  its  progressive  development  through  the  various 
species  and  phases  of  animal  creation,  we  find  an  in- 


34  MURDER    AND    CRIME. 

crease  of  organs,  a  greater  complication  and  combi- 
nation of  principles  through  which  life  is  manifested 
upon  the  physical  plane  of  action.  In  the  human 
organization  we  have  a  greater  number  and  more 
perfect  organs  of  vitality  than  in  other  animal  or- 
ganizations, and  consequently  a  greater  activity  of 
life.  It  is  evident  that  the  human  brain  and  nervous 
system  is  susceptible  of  greater  activity  and  admits 
of  a  wider  field  of  action,  aside  from  the  intellectual 
operations  of  the  mind,  than  any  other  being  of 
which  we  have  any  knowledge.*  Now,  we  can  easily 
perceive  that,  as  life  depends  upon  corporeal  organ- 
ization for  its  physical  manifestation,  the  human 
mind,  as  it  is  of  itself  an  organization,  requires  an 
organ  or  organs  as  a  media  through  which  it  may 
act  or  manifest  its  existence  upon  the  physical  plane 
of  action.  We  may  therefore,  also,  reasonably  con- 
clude that  the  more  perfect  the  brain, — which  all 
scientists  now  admit  to  be  the  organ  of  the  mind,— 
the  more  perfect  the  manifestations  of  the  mind  and 
the  more  powerful  is  its  action. 

In  the  lower  forms  of  creation,  mind  is  buk  faintly 
manifest.  As  we  descend  in  the  scale  of  beings,  we 
find  the  brain  decreasing  in  size,  also  in  the  number 
of  convolutions  and  different  departments,  until  en- 
tirely lost,  the  same  as  other  organs  of  the  body,  less 
in  number,  less  in  size,  and  less  important  in  func- 
tion, until  all  traces  of  mind  and  life  are  lost  among 
the  crude  corporeal  matter  of  the  earth.  That  ani- 
mals have  not  a  mind  is  not  now  a  mooted  question ; 
only  it  is  not  a  human  mind.  The  horse  has  a  mind 

*  See  the  author's  work  on  the  "  Human  Five  Senses." 


ORGANS    OF    THE    BRAIN    AND    THEIR    FUNCTION.    35 

peculiar  to  himself,  which  we  may  call  with  propriety 
a  horse's  mind. 

So  every  other  living  creature  on  earth  differs  in 
degree  of  manifestation  as  the  brain  differs  in  its 
relative  size,  refinement  in  texture,  and  perfectness 
in  organization.  If,  then,  it  is  admitted,  as  by  every 
thinking  person  it  must  be,  that  life  is  an  agency  or 
activity,  operating  only  through  bodily  organizations, 
the  brain  being  the  organ  of  the  mind,  we  may  further 
reason  correctly  that  the  mind  is  an  organization  ot 
faculties,  these  various  faculties  together  constituting 
and  producing  the  various  intellectual  operations, 
and  establishing  also  a  moral  character.  This  is  a 
force  or  agency  which  mainly  controls  men's  actions 
in  their  intercourse  one  with  another,  although  it  may 
be  traced  far  down  in  nature  ;  yet,  as  it  mainly  con- 
cerns us,  we  will  confine  our  investigations  to  man- 
kind. The  faculties  of  the  mind,  in  their  combined 
action  producing  intellectual  and  moral  characteris- 
tics, lead  in  the  direction  of  moral  action ;  and  by 
experience  in  the  result  of  such  actions,  we  are  en- 
abled to  know  as  to  the  ri^ht  and  the  wrono-  These 

o  o ' 

faculties  are  evidently  of  a  physical  nature,  for  they 
are  governed  by  circumstances,  or,  in  a  word,  by  our 
corporeal  surroundings.  Mind  being  a  physical 
manifestation  it  will  follow  that  physical  laws  control 
it  in  the  same  manner  that  physical  laws  govern  the 
physiological  operations  of  the  brain,  or  the  stomach, 
or  the  food  that  is  prepared  for  our  use  by  nature. 
If  this  is  a  correct  position  we  may  deal  with  the 
mind  as  with  other  human  physical  existences.  But 
our  reader  may  say  that  the  mind  is  a  psycological 


36  MURDER    AND    CRIME. 

phenomena,  and  that  it  is  a  reflection  of  the  myste- 
rious operations  of  the  soul,  and  that  it  is  too  myste- 
rious a  subject  for  us  to  understand.  So  we  may 
further  argue  that  it  is  a  great  mystery  why  all  foliage 
and  grasses  come  forth  and  appear  in  the  primitive 
color,  green ;  and  that  it  is  a  mysterious  operation  of 
God  through  nature  far  beyond  our  comprehension, 
and  yet  we  do  know  something  about  it,  for  the 
chemistry  and  physiology  of  plants,  and  the  natural 
sciences,  have  given  us  great  light  on  the  subject. 
We  have  stated  that  physical  laws  govern  the  action 
of  the  human  mind,  as  well  as  other  physical  mani- 
festations. 

In  the  perfect  manifestations  of  life  phenomena 
throughout  all  nature,  we  find  that  concert  of  action 
of  all  the  organs  of  any  body  is  necessary ;  and  let 
there  be  the  slightest  discord,  we  soon  see  a  fading 
away  of  the  life  activity,  and  unless  harmony  is  re- 
stored, the  body  will  die.  Withhold  any  of  the  life- 
giving  or  life-sustaining  agencies,  and  the  same  dis- 
astrous result  will  follow.  So  in  the  human  organi- 
zation ;  let  any  of  the  vital  organs  become  deranged, 
from  disease  or  accident,  and  discord  of  the  vital 
phenomena  are  immediately  manifest.  If  this  is  al- 
lowed to  continue, the  body  will  soon  decay  and  die; 
also,  if  the  necessary  means  to  sustain  life  is  with- 
held, the  effect  will  be  the  same.  The  brain  being 
the  organ  through  which  the  mind  acts,  and  mind 
being  a  physical  manifestation,  it  will  follow  as  a  nat- 
ural consequence  that  concert  of  action  of  all  the 
organs  of  the  brain  is  necessary  to  a  perfect  mental 
manifestation.  Let  the  slightest  discord  take  place 


ORGANS    OF    THE    BRAIN    AND    THEIR    FUNCTION.      37 

in  the  brain,  from  whatever  cause;  and  immediate  dis- 
arrangement of  the  mental  phenomena  will  be  the 
natural  result.  The  brain  beingr  thus  deranged,  and 

O  O 

being  intimately  connected  with  other  organs  of 
vitality, — in  truth,  it  may  be  classed  as  one  of  the 
organs  of  vitality, — will,  if  harmony  is  not  restored, 
soon  end  in  death,  or  lead  to  insanity,  which  is  equal- 
ly disastrous.  Thus  far,  we  think  we  have  reasoned 
logically,  and  if  we  cannot  apply  our  manner  of 
reasoning  to  the  brain  and  other  higher  natures  of 
mankind,  we  would  consider  what  has  been  said  a 
failure.  We  do  not  fear  that,  however,  though  we 
may  have  undertaken  more  than  we  bargained  for. 
We  have  stated  that  the  mind  is  an  organization 
composed  of  faculties.  These  faculties  require  con- 
cert of  action,  in  order  to  manifest  mental  harmony 
and  correct  moral  actions  in  life.  Let  there  be  dis- 
cord and  disagreement  among  the  faculties,  and  the 
result  would  be  disease  of  the  mind,  which  if  allowed 
to  go  on,  and  not  corrected,  will  end  in  wrong  doing 
—violations  of  physiological  laws  or  the  laws  of  the 
land,  bringing  sorrow  to  the  individual  and  injury  to 
others.  Discord  of  action  among  the  organs  of  the 
body  and  brain,  we  have  stated,  will,  if  harmony  is  not 
restored,  lead  to  disease,  and  eventually  end  in  death. 
Diseased  conditions  of  the  brain  and  nervous  sys- 
tem, if -not  cured,  are  liable  to  end  in  death,  or  what  is 
worse — insanity.  Discord  of  action  among  the  moral 
and  intellectual  faculties,  if  not  corrected,  and  -al- 
lowed to  go  on,  does  not  only  produce  disease  of  the 
mind,  but  is  liable  to  end  in  crime,  murder,  or  self- 
destruction. 


38  MURDER    AND    CRIME. 

Our  readers  may  now  naturally  inquire  how  this 
moral  and  intellectual  disagreement  or  discord  among 
the  faculties  takes  place.  The  causes  are  various, 
and  this  volume  does  not  admit  of.  space  to  enume- 
rate them.  In  the  first  place,  however,  we  will  state 
that  the  immediate  cause  or  causes  are  of  two  kinds, 
the  one  is  slow  and  insidious ;  the  other  sudden  and 
accidental.  The  reader  is,  perhaps,  familiar  with 
some  of  the  causes  which  produce  disease  of  the 
physical  organism.  They  are  of  two  kinds,  the  same 
as  those  affecting  the  faculties  of  the  mind.  They 
are  slow,  insidious,  accidental,  and  having  their  start- 
ing-point in  ignorance,  contrary  habits,  and  evil  asso- 
ciations. By  inattention  to  the  proper  selection  of 
food,  the  body  gradually  becomes  unbalanced  in  the 
natural  chemical  constituents,  and  diseased  action 
will  take  place  ;  or,  by  disobedience  to  the  physiologi- 
cal laws  of  digestion,  that  terrible  disease,  dyspepsia, 
may  gradually  be  superinduced,  or  consumption, 
heart  disease,  disease  of  the  brain,  and  a  consequent 
disarrangement  of  the  mind,  and  a  perversion  of  the 
intellectual  and  moral  faculties,  is  the  result  of 
wrong-living.  Thus  we  see  that  physical  goodness 
is  necessary  to  mental,  moral,  and  intellectual  good- 
ness, and  is  also  a  great  source  of  mental  distur- 
bance, and  often  ends  in  the  commission  of  a  terrible 
crime.  Let  a  woman,  who  by  means  of  tight  dresses, 
or  by  strapping  around  her  chest  that  hideous  mons- 
ter called  corset,  compress  her  lungs,  and  she  will 
soon  find  herself  becoming  not  only  physically  dis- 
eased, but  also  mentally;  she  becomes  fretful,  and,  in 
a  word,  terribly  inharmonious,  and  where  it  will  end 


ORGANS    OF    THE    BRAIN    AND    THEIR    FUNCTION.      39 

no  one  can  tell.  If  her  son  does  not  commit  crime, 
her  grandchild  may  end  its  days  on  the  gallows  or 
in  prison.  The  subject  of  extreme  mental  labor, 
continuous  thought  on  one  subject,  disappointments 
in  the  affections,  long  continued,  unhappy  associa- 
tions with  women  or  men,  is  very  liable,  if  the  diffi- 
culty is  not  corrected,  to  end  in  disease  of  the  mind, 
to  unbalance  the  physical  organization,  also  the  moral, 
character,  and  is  in  every  way  a  subject  of  legisla- 
tion long  before  crime  is  committed. 

A  man  affected  with  hydrophobia  once  came  under 
my  care.  While  the  paroxysm  was  on  him,  it  be- 
came necessary  to  tie  him  hand  and  foot  to  the  bed- 
stead, in  order  to  prevent  him  from  doing  injury  to 
himself  and  others.  After  a  few  times,  he  could  tell 
when  the  paroxysm  was  approaching,  and  would  call 
at  the  top  of  his  voice,  "  Tie  me !  tie  me,  or  I  must 
bite  you  !"  So  many  persons  are  now  at  liberty,  not 
cared  for  in  the  proper  way  to  cure  their  malady, 
who,  no  doubt,  often  feel  like  crying  aloud,  "  Tie  me  ! 
tie  me,  before  I  bite  you  !"  The  reader  is  here  re- 
ferred to  the  third  chapter  in  part  second  of  this 
book.  In  chapter  fourth,  we  trace  the  various  causes 
which  pervert  the  moral  faculties,  under  the  head  of 
the  "  Two  Paths  of  the  Child,"  which  the  reader  should 
study  carefully. 

Among  the  accidental  causes  of  discord  among 
the  faculties,  we  refer  first  to  the  injuries  of  the  body. 
Wounds,  bruises,  fractures,  surgical  operations,  have 
in  many  instances  produced  such  a  powerful  mental 
shock  that  discord  of  action  of  many  of  the  faculties 
became  almost  irreparable.  This  condition  is  of 


4O  MURDER    AND    CRIME. 

longer  or  shorter  duration.  I  have  known  it  to  last 
only  a  few  minutes,  and,  in  a  number  of  cases,  two 
and  three  months.  One  lady,  I  remember,  I  was 
called  to  treat  a  few  years  ago,  who,  by  accident,  in 
trying  to  split  some  wood,  split  her  great  toe  wide 
open.  The  wound,  in  itself  not  very  dangerous, 
gave  such  a  terrible  shock  to  the  brain  and  nervous 
system,  that  though  by  the  proper  treatment  entire 
constitutional  reaction  was  restored,  the  wound  healed 
by  what  surgeons  call  first  intention,  and  in  every 
sense  good  bodily  health,  yet  the  discord  among  the 
faculties  lingered  a  long  time,  and  it  was  nearly  four 
months  before  perfect  reason  was  fully  restored. 

Anger  may  be  classed  among  the  sudden  causes. 
Though  a  disposition  to  anger  is  gradually  acquired 
by  habit,  yet  it  may  be  provoked  by  circumstances 
over  which  the  person  has  no  acquired  ability  to  con- 
trol, and  often  terrible  derangement  of  the  moral  and 
intellectual  powers  is  the  immediate  result,  and  be- 
fore the  difficulty  can  be  arrested  a  hideous  crime  is 
committed.  Many  cases  may  be  cited  where  persons 
were  not  aware  that  they  were  guilty  of  any  crime 
for  weeks  after  such  a  mental  debauch  as  simply  a 
fit  of  anger.  Persons  who  become  enraged,  no  mat- 
ter what  the  exciting  cause  may  be,  are  very  liable 
to  commit  crime,  and  also  liable  to  become  perma- 
nently deranged.  There  never  is  a  fit  of  anger 
without  a  mental  and  physical  prostration  following, 
which  sometimes  lasts  for  hours.  It  produces  a 
shock  to  the  brain  and  nervous  system  the  same  as  a 
physical  injury,  and  a  reaction  sometimes  leaves  the 
person  in  a  terrible  condition.  A  Mr.  Symonds  who 


ORGANS    OF    THE    BRAIN    AND    TIIKIR    FUNCTION.      41 

came  under  my  notice  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia, 
Pa.,  in  the  year  1860,  had  a  regular  bar-room  fight. 
Though  not  injured  by  his  antagonist  in  the  least,  he 
became  so  infuriated  that  it  was  a  long  time  before 
he  could  be  quieted,  and  about  the  time  of  reaction, 
he  had  a  genuine  epileptic  fit.  His  reason  never  was 
fully  restored ;  for  nearly  one  year  he  was  a  hopeless 
maniac,  and  is  still  confined  to  the  insane  asylum. 
Habitual  anger,  if  it  does  not  lead  to  crime,  will 
bring  on  diseased  conditions  and  shorten  life.  I 
further  affirm  that  all  persons  who  become  enraged 
at  everything  that  does  not  please  them,  on  causes 
most  trivial,  are  dangerous  persons  of  society,  and 
are  subjects  of  legislation,  in  order  to  prevent  crime. 
A  German  of  this  city  gradually  contracted  such  a 
habit  to  anger  at  everything  that  went  slightly  con- 
trary to  his  wishes,  that  at  times  he  would  become 
almost  furious,  throw  things  about  in  his  shop,  and 
break  the  dishes  for  his  wife,  until  he  was  nearly  half 
of  his  time  in  an  enraged  condition.  One  day  he 
threw  a  hammer  at  his  own  son's  head,  but  fortunate- 
ly, for  the  boy,  missed  him ;  and  frequently  would 
torture  his  wife  and  children.  By  this  means,  he 
brought  on  an  incurable  disease  of  mind  and  body, 
aside  from  the  malady  that  weighed  down  his  soul. 
He  is  now  a  hopeless  invalid,  his  poor  wife  giving 
him  her  entire  attention,  feeding  him  a  little  broth, 
and  nursing  him  to  the  best  of  her  ability,  only  to 
prolong  his  miserable  life  a  few  days  longer.  When- 
ever she  happens  to  put  the  spoon  a  little  edgeways 
into  his  mouth,  he  will  swear  and  damn  everything 
that  is  orreat  and  oOod,  and  I  have  heard  him  say 


42  MURDER    AND    CRIME. 

things  to  his  wife  and  children  too  hideous  to  relate. 
To  briefly  recapitulate,  we  will  remind  the  reader 
that  the  mind,  moral,  and  intellectual  faculties,  are 
physical  manifestations,  operating  through  a  physical 
organism,  and  are  subject  to  and  controlled  by  phy- 
sical laws.  Now,  as  the  moral  and  intellectual  facul- 
ties may  be  and  are  mainly  disturbed  through  physi- 
cal causes,  so  may  the  difficulty  be  corrected  through 
physical  agencies  or  means  by  which  to  arrest  the 
tendency  to  crime  and  wrong-doing.  If  a  man  by 
accident  breaks  his  leg,  the  surgeon  will  apply  splints, 
and  give  the  parts  rest  until  nature  heals  the  fracture ; 
or,  let  any  of  the  organs  of  vitality  become  diseased, 
the  physician  will  use  such  remedials  of  cure  as,  by 
experience  and  the  study  of  physiological  laws,  en- 
ables him  to  correctly  prescribe  and  cure  his  patient. 
The  disease  is  of  a  physical  nature,  a  disturbance  of 
the  vital  forces,  which  may  be  local  or  constitutional. 
The  means  of  cure  must  correspond  to  the  nature 
of  the  disease,  and  be  strictly  in  accordance  with 
nature's  laws.  The  physician  cannot  cure  his  patient, 
or  the  surgeon  heal  a  fracture,  by  the  use  of  means 
that  will  inflict  greater  injury,  instead  of  means  that 
will  soothe,  calm,  and  control  diseased  conditions. 
The  same  course  of  reasoning  will  apply  to  the  fac- 
ulties ;  let  any  of  them  become  discordant  with  the 
others,  and  we  have  mental  disturbance — in  a  word, 
diseased  conditions  of  the  mental  or  moral  nature. 
To  cure  such  persons  the  same  laws  will  have  to  be 
observed  as  when  the  body  is  diseased,  viz.,  rest, 
proper  selection  of  food,  hygienic  and  remedial 
means  by  which  to  stay  the  "  devouring  flame,"  and 


ORGANS    OF    THE    BRAIN    AND    THEIR    FUNCTION.     43 

save  the  individual  from  crime  and  premature  decay. 
We  will  take  a  person  with  whom  the  faculty  to 
acquire  money  and  property  has  become  uncontrol- 
lable by  conscience,  caution,  reason,  and  other  facul- 
ties, and  this  person  is  lead  in  this  manner  to  rob 
his  neighbor.  The  natural  treatment  should  be  rest, 
in  a  house  of  correction,  the  proper  exercise  of  other 
faculties,  exercise  of  the  body,  the  proper  selection 
of  food,  and  the  proper  education  of  this  faculty, 
which  may  be  considered  in  a  diseased  condition,  by 
such  means  as  the  indications  of  the  case  may  re- 
quire, bearing  always  in  the  mind  that  the  means  of 
cure  is  cooling,  soothing,  calming,  and  restorative, 
rather  than  depleting  and  trying  to  cure  one  disease 
by  creating  another,  often  rendering  the  means  of 
cure  worse  than  the  disease. 

The  faculties  also  come  under  physical  laws  in  re- 
gard to  their  function  ;  in  fact,  they  are  almost  wholly 
dependent  upon  the  objective  and  corporeal  sur- 
rounding for  their  exercise ;  consequently,  all  educa- 
tional means  must  be  of  a  tangible  or  physical  char- 
acter, and,  like  the  body,  may  be  strengthened  and 
very  fully  developed  by  obeying  physiological  laws. 
If  we  would  strengthen  a  certain  muscle,  we  must 
give  it  the  requisite  exercise  and  rest.  This  is  a 
physiological  maxim,  and  will  hold  good  throughout 
all  nature.  Any  of  the  bodily  organs  may  be  made 
stronger  by  the  same  rule — the  brain,  the  nervous 
system,  or  any  of  the  senses  admit  largely  of  culti- 
vation, and  thus  may  be  made  stronger  and  perform 
their  functions  more  perfectly.  The  brain  becomes 
stronger  by  exercising  the  mind  in  intellectual  pur- 


44  MURDER    AND    CRIME. 

suits  so  that  each  faculty,  or  all  the  faculties  collec- 
tively, may  be  enlarged  in  capacity,  in  concert  of  ac- 
tion, and  all  brought  into  perfect  working  order  by  a 
well-balanced  education. 

The  immediate  means  of  education  to  be  mainly 
considered  are :  first,  our  immediate  surroundings 
ctnd  conditions  in*life;  second,  associations;  and 
thirdly,  vocation.  The  reader  here  is  referred  to 
Chapter  IV,  on  the  "  Two  Paths  of  the  Child." 

All  education  and  knowledge  is  acquired  in  two 
ways :  first,  by  experience ;  second,  by  learning  the 
experience  of  others-;  in  other  words,  by  being 
taught,  by  conversing,  reading,  and  attending  schools 
instituted  for  that  purpose.  The  first  is  positive  ; 
the  latter,  negative,  but  becomes  positive  as  it  is 
brought  into  practice.  The  first  means  of  acquiring 
knowledge  should  be  encouraged,  and  the  latter 
should  be  made  compulsory,  by  which  means,  at  least, 
a  theoretical  foundation  is  laid,  and  if  strictly  cor- 
rect, in  accordance  with  the  laws  of  nature,  the  laws 
of  conscience,  reason,  and  a  combined  support  of  all 
the  faculties,  will  stand  when  brought  into  practice, 
prove  to  be  good,  and  bring  untold  happiness  to 
every  individual  and  society  in  general. 

As  to  the  accidental  causes  of  crime,  no  law  can 
be  enacted  to  prevent  such.  The  perpetrator  can 
be  tried  as  to  the  cause,  intent,  and  motive.  The 
slow  and  insidious  causes  of  crjme  maybe  controlled 
by  legal  enactment,  the  tendency  averted,  and  our 
present  prevalence  of  crime  very  much  decreased  by 
observing  the  suggestion  in  Part  Second  of  this 
book.  From  what  has  been  said  under  this  head,  we 


ORGANS    OF    THE    BRAIN    AND    THEIR    FUNCTION.     45 

can  easily  perceive  that  crime,  murder,  and  all  wrong- 
doing is  the  result  of  a  diseased  condition  of  the 
body,  deranged  brain,  and  a  perversion  of  the  moral 
and  intellectual  faculties,  brought  about  by  wrong 
education,  habits,  association,  unfavorable  surround- 
ings, conditions  of  the  parents  before  being  born,  and 
the  influence  of  society  in  general. 

If  this  is  not  correct  reasoning,  then  I  ask  this 
question :  whence  the  cause  of  crime  ?  is  crime  in- 
nate or  acquired  ?  If  acquired,  we  have  a  right  to 
take  hold  and  correct  the  person  guilty,  but  if  an 
innate  principle,  then  we  have  no  right  to  interfere 
with  what  God  has  seen  fit  so  to  create. 

The  question,  I  think,  has  been  settled  long  since 
by  our  best  thinkers,  that  faculties  are  innate,  but  not 
principles ;  organs,  brain,  nervous  system,  vital  phe- 
nomena, and  faculties  of  the  mind  are  innate,  but  the 
various  intellectual  operations  of  the  mind,  the  moral 
sense  and  character,  are  acquired,  and  hence  the  poor 
unfortunate  criminal  cannot  be  held  alone  responsible 
for  his  crime.  Perhaps  fifty,  a  hundred,  or  more  per- 
sons were  accessory  to  the  crime  with  which  he  is 
charged. 


46  MURDER    AND    CRIME. 


CHAPTER  III. 

CONSTITUTIONAL    PREDISPOSITION    TO   CRIME. 

In  March,  eighteen  hundred  and  seventy-one,  I 
made  a  visit  to  the  great  city  of  New  York  for  the 
first  time  in  my  life.  After  a  short  stay,  I  seated 
myself  in  the  cars,  for  Buffalo.  About  one  hour's 
ride  from  the  great  metropolis,  the  train  made  a  stop 
at  a  station,  and  two  well-dressed  gentlemen  entered 
the  cars,  and  were  seated  just  in  front  of  me.  They 
were  busily  engaged  in  talking,  and  continued  a 
spirited  conversation.  From  their  conversation,  I 
could  know  that  one  was  a  lawyer  by  profession  and 
the  other  a  physician.  I  was  especially  interested  in 
their  conversation,  for  both  were  evidently  of  a  high- 
ly refined,  mental  and  physical  organization ;  men  of 
culture,  correct  habits,  and  liberal  education,  about 
forty  years  of  age ;  the  lawyer  of  the  vital  and  the 
physician  of  the  mental  temperament ;  both  posses- 
sing great  psycological  powers  ;  in  a  word,  appearing 
to  be  happy,  congenial,  and  living  in  the  very  sun- 
shine of  health.  All  these  conditions,  my  dear  read- 
ers, have  some  bearing,  with  me  at  least,  as  to  the 
truth  of  a  doctrine  advanced  by  men  and  women, 
and  I  give  weight  to  the  ideas  advanced  by  persons 
of  a  well-balanced,  healthy  organization  more  than 
when  I  find  people  in  an  opposite  state  or  condition. 
I  never  knew  a  dyspeptic  that  was  not  fretful,  fault- 


CONSTITUTIONAL    PREDISPOSITION    TO    CRIME.        47 

finding,  hateful,  with  never  a  smile  for  any  one, — not 
even  for  themselves, — and  such  a  person  is  disqualified 
to  think  on  subjects  of  vital  importance,  or  to  teach 
mankind  the  way  to  health  and  happiness.  Those 
men  whose  conversation  I  am  about  to  relate,  were, 
so  far  as  I  am  able  to  judge  of  a  man's  health,  en- 
tirely clear  of  dyspepsia  and  mental  depression,  as 
there  was  not  the  slightest  evidence  of  disease  writ- 
ten upon  their  physiognomy.  After  a  few  minutes, 
their  conversation  turned  upon  the  seeming  preva- 
lence of  crime  and  murder;  for  it  seemed  but  re- 
cently an  outrageous  murder  had  been  committed  in 
their  town,  also  a  number  of  daring  robberies.  For  the 
benefit  of  our  readers,  we  here  reproduce  the  leading 
ideas  advanced  by  those  men,  from  notes  taken  at 
the  time,  but  unobserved  by  them.  We  will  call 
the  one  Lawyer  Jones,  and  the  other  Doctor  Newton. 
Lawyer  Jones  said  he  was  very  sorry  to  see  that 
young  man  James  Gill  arrested  for  breaking  in,  and 
robbing  Mr.  Johnston's  store  the  other  night ;  "  for 
this,"  he  said,  "  is  the  only  boy  of  four  brothers  out 
of  the  penitentiary,  and  it  was  always  believed  he 
was  honest ;  but  circumstances  are  so  strong  against 
him  that  he  cannot  escape  conviction.  It  is  singu- 
lar, indeed,  in  regard  to  the  Gill  family,  for  it  is  known 
that  nearly  all  of  them  will  steal.  The  old  man,  a 
few  years  ago,  you  remember,  was  convicted  for  rob- 
bing Mr.  Rollins  of  a  considerable  sum  of  money. 
He  broke  in  the  house  during  Sunday  afternoon, 
while  the  family  were  at  the  Sabbath  school.  He 
was  induced  to  refund  the  money,  and  was  afterward 
reprieved  by  reason  of  his  extreme  old  age." 


48  MURDER    AND    CRIME. 

DOCTOR  NEWTON. — Yes.  I  have  kept  track  of 
that  family  for  a  number  of  years,  and  have  also  in- 
quired into  their  previous  history.  It  seems  that 
they  have  all  been  industrious,  and  very  saving,  by 
which  means  they  have  accumulated  a  handsome 
fortune.  Still,  they  would  all  steal,  and  even  the 
women  are  strongly  suspected.  The  mother  of 
these  boys,  I  am  credibly  informed,  has  admitted 
that  from  a  child  she  had  a  strong  propensity  to  take 
little  things  while  visiting  her  neighbors,  but  thinks 
she  has  overcome  that  inclination  in  after  years. . 

L.  J. — Do  you  think,  then,  doctor,  that  a  predis- 
position to  steal,  lie,  etc.,  may  be  transmitted  from 
parent  to  child,  and  become  an  inherent  principle, 
untimately  and  finally  ending  in  some  terrible  crime, 
like  that  of  the  murderer  Williamson,  who,  it  seems, 
had  an  irresistable  mania  for  thieving,  from  a  little 
boy. 

DR.  N. — I  have  not  the  slightest  doubt  on  the 
subject,  for  I  have  given  the  matter  considerable  at- 
tention, and  inquired  into  the  subject,  as  well  as  into 
the  history  of  many  of  our  criminals ;  and  as  a  gen- 
eral thing  I  find  nearly  every  case  traceable  to  a 
disreputable  ancestry,  who,  previous  to  propagating 
their  offspring,  have  lived  in  open  violation  of  the 
laws  of  physiology,  and  moral  and  religious  princi- 
ples. I  am,  further,  of  the  opinion  that  such  parents 
continue  to  feed  those  organs  by  their  examples  in 
life,  and  instead  of  all  the  faculties  being  simultane- 
ously acted  upon,  the  child  hears  and  sees  nothing 
but  wrong-doing  on  the  part  of  his  parents  and  asso- 
ciates, and  consequently  a  constitutional  inclination 


CONSTITUTIONAL    PREDISPOSITION    TO    CRIME.        49 

to  steal,  etc.,  is  created,  and  those  organs  of  the 
brain,  and  those  faculties  of  the  mind,  which  have 
the  greater  activity  become  the  stronger,  and  in  time 
they  become  the  predominating  or  controlling  power 
of  the  man  or  woman  thus  created  and  educated. 

L.  J. — It  would  seem  that  your  position  is  correct, 
for  I  cannot  recall  in  my  mind  a  single  instance  of 
our  most  noted  criminals  where  the  previous  history 
was  anything  but  favorable.  In  nearly  every  in- 
stance, the  parents  of  our  murderers,  and  criminals 
of  lesser  magnitude,  were  terribly  depraved.  The 
children  of  such  parents,  being  begotten  and  raised 
under  the  influence  of  vice,  crime,  physical,  moral, 
and  social  depravity,  of  course  obey  their  nature ; 
and  what  but  crime  can  be  expected  of  them  ? 

DR.  N. — If  you  are  correct, — which  I  believe  you 
are, — then,  why  not  make  provision  for  the  prevention 
of  crime,  restraining  the  liberty  of  such  persons  as  are 
found  possessing  a  predisposition  to  steal,  etc.,  and 
placing  them  in  a  house  of  correction,  until  they  out- 
grow such  disposition  ?  For  example :  the  William- 
son murderer  had  a  perfect  mania  for  stealing,  and  it 
was  generally  known.  He  also  stated  in  court  that 
he  only  wanted  the  man's  money,  and  was  very  sorry 
that  he  had  to  kill  him ;  for  the  man  fought  desper- 
ately, and  in  the  struggle  was  killed.  I  do  not  believe 
that  this  man  Williamson  is  constitutionally  a  mur- 
derer, for  he  feels  very  sorry.  Others,  I  believe,  have 
a  natural  desire  for  blood,  as  Williamson  had  only 
for  thieving.  I  think  such  persons  are  subjects  of 
legal  attention,  long  before  they  become  uncontrolla- 
ble and  commit  some  outrageous  crime. 

4 


5O  MURDER    AND    CRIME. 

L.  J. — It  is  a  fact.  This  subject  is  rapidly  being 
investigated,  and  men  are  changing  their  views  as  to 
the  real  cause  of  crime,  and  I  think  we  are  standing 
on  the  threshold  of  a  radical  change  in  our  criminal 
laws.  It  also  seems  that  something  more  is  necessary 
to  stay  the  present  tendency  to  crime  ;  for  all  our 
punishment,  and  efforts  aiming  merely  to  protect 
society  and  bring  every  criminal  to  justice,  does  not 
mitigate  crime,  but  seems  to  increase  it. 

DR.  N. — I  am  glad  that  the  legal  profession  is  be- 
ginning to  see  this  subject  in  its  true  light.  Some  of 
our  most  eminent  clergymen  are  also  investigating 
the  philosophy  and  causes  of  wrong-doing,  crime, 
and  murder.  The  most  eminent  of  the  medical  fac- 
ulty, physiologists,  and  professors  of  mental  science, 
now  nearly  all  agree  that  mind  is  a  physical  manifes- 
tation, that  it  is  governed  by  physical  laws,  and  that 
all  crime  is  the  result  of  an  organic  or  constitutional 
condition,  favoring  or  producing  discord  among  the 
faculties  of  the  mind,  and  criminal  action  is  the  result. 

It  is  a  settled  truth  that  crime  is  the  result  of 
depravity,  both  physical  and  mental,  and  may  be 
considered  a  species  of  insanity.  Long-continued 
thought  in  a  certain  direction,  long  practice  of  cer- 
tain habits, — say  swearing,  lying,  stealing, — is  a  species 
of  insanity.  The  miser,  who  worships  his  gold  above 
every  thing  else,  is  a  monomaniac ;  and  such  condi- 
tions will  doubtless  lead  to  further  commission  of 
crime. 

L.  J. — Doctor,  you  do  not  presume  to  say  that  all 
crime  is  an  outgrowth  of  an  organic  or  constitutional 

o  o 

predisposition  ?      I   will  cite  a  case.     Ned   Morris,  a 


CONSTITUTIONAL    PREDISPOSITION    TO    CRIME.    •    51 

man  of  forty-five,  was  caught  stealing  corn  from  the 
crib  of  Mr.  Nelson,  the  other  day,  and  it  seems,  from 
the  evidence  elicited  in  the  case,  that  he  was  forced 
to  do  so,  or  beg,  or  starve.  His  family  was  greatly 
in  need  of  subsistence,  and  this  was  evidently  the 
first  attempt  to  steal  in  his  life. 

DR.  N. — We  divide  criminals  into  two  kinds :  those 
who  lie,  steal,  etc.,  from  necessity,  and  those  who  do 
so  from  choice.  The  first  commit  crime  to  keep  from 
starving,  and  the  last  do  so  merely  to  obey  a  natural 
propensity.  Ned  Morris  simply  erred  in  judgment. 
His  pride  would  not  allow  him  to  beg,  so  he  tried 
stealing.  He  also  made  frequent  efforts  during  the 
winter  to  earn  a  subsistence,  but  his  neighbors  refused 
to  employ  him.  The  actuating  causes  to  steal,  in 
Ned  Morris's  case,  and  the  Gill  family  are  widely 
different,  and  I  think  the  mode  of  punishment  should 
differ  as  much  as  the  forces  which  caused  either  to 
commit  crime.  The  one  should  be  compensatory, 
and  the  other  reformatory.  Ned  Morris  should  be 
supplied  with  subsistence  and  something  to  do,  and 
the  Gill  boy  placed  in  a  house  of  correction,  until  he 
entirely  outgrows  his  disposition  to  steal. 

The    conversation    of    these    two    gentlemen    was 

c> 

suddenly  brought  to  a  close  by  the  conductor  an- 
nouncing a  certain  station,  which,  it  seemed,  was  their 
destination.  I  was  sorry  to  part  with  them,  for  the 
subject  which  they  were  discussing  was  very  interest- 
ing to  me.  The  conversation  of  these  two  gentlemen 
reminds  me,  however,  of  observations  of  my  own, 
which  I  take  the  liberty  to  state  in  connection  with 
this  subject.  It  is  a  well-attested  fact  that  persons 


52  MURDER    AND    CRIME. 

acquire  a  sort  of  mania  to  lie,  steal,  etc.,  brought 
about  by  circumstances  most  insidious,  and  over 
which  they  have  no  control ;  among  which  we  men- 
tion parental  transmission,  associations,  bodily  habits, 
and  influence  of  society  in  general.  While  lecturing 
in  Southern  Illinois,  I  was  consulted  by  the  parents 
of  a  little  girl  about  fourteen  years  of  age,  in  regard 
to  her  uncontrollable  desire  to  steal.  She  could  not 
be  allowed  to  visit  the  neighbors  without  bringing 
disgrace  upon  herself  and  her  family.  My  prescrip- 
tion was  to  make  her  carry  back  any  article  stolen 
by  her  to  the  owner,  and  ask  their  pardon.  Two 
years  after,  I  received  a  letter  stating  that  my  sug- 
gestion almost  entirely  cured  the  child.  The  parents 
were  in  the  habit  of  punishing  the  little  girl  severely 
by  whipping  her  until  she  would  promise  never  to  do 
so  again,  thus  forcing  her  to  lie,  for  neither  the  pun- 
ishment nor  her  promise  was  strong  enough  to  coun- 
teract the  mania  to  steal.  This,  of  course,  I  strictly 
forbid,  and  in  place  of  the  parents  carrying  back  the 
stolen  goods  of  the  little  girl,  as  they  were  in  the 
habit  of  doing,  require  her  to  do  so  herself,  and  only 
reason  with  her,  and  never  punish  the  child  in  a 
a  corporal  manner ;  also  never  to  force  her  to  make 
a  promise  unless  sure  she  could  keep  it.  I  also  re- 
quired the  mother  to  visit  the  neighbors  frequently 
with  the  child;  for  seclusion  from  society  would  have 
made  matters  worse.  In  conversation  with  the  lady, 
— and  she  was  a  woman  of  more  than  an  ordinary 
mind, — the  mother  admitted  that  when  young  she 
was  nearly  as  bad  as  her  daughter;  and  not  until 
after  she  had  given  birth  to  this  child  did  she  entirely 


CONSTITUTIONAL    PREDISPOSITION    TO    CRIME.        53 

overcome  this  inclination.  Even  now,  she  thought, 
if  her  condition  in  life  were  unhappy, — if  she  were  in 
want, — she  could  be  easily  induced  to  exercise  that 
inclination.  But  her  husband  was  a  very  good  man, 
and  loved  her,  and  did  everything  to  make  his  family 
happy.,  I  might  relate  hundreds  of  similar  cases  of 
different  shades  and  degrees  of  the  mania  to  steal, 
lie,  etc.,  and  also,  were  it  necessary,  give  many  state- 
ments elicited  from  convicts  on  this  subject.  Dr. 
Buckley,  who  is  one  of  our  best  authorities  on  this 
subject,  even  states  that  there  is  a  condition  which 
creates  a  mania  for  burning  buildings,  torturing  and 
destroying  animals  and  men,  poisoning  persons — and 
taking  the  greatest  delight  in  doing  so.  Another 
class,  who  commit  crime  from  necessity,  are  not  to  be 
classed  among  those  who  are  constitutionally  so  in- 
clined, and  require  different  treatment  at  the  hands 
of  the  law.  It  is  a  common  proverb  that  "  necessity 
is  the  mother  of  invention."  So  necessity  is  often 
the  mother  of  crime.  One  person  is  stronger  and 
constitutionally  better  qualified  to  resist  temptation, 
and  overcome  circumstances  of  necessity,  than  an- 
other. 

These  persons  may  be  divided  into  three  classes. 
The  first  are  by  force  of  necessity  acted  upon  so  as 
to  at  once  begin  to  plan,  and  soon  are  enabled  to 
carry  out  their  desire  successfully.  The  second, think 
and  lay  plans  how  to  steal  money  or  property  in  or- 
der to  help  themselves,  but  their  conscience  will  not 
allow  them  to  carry  them  into  execution.  An  ac- 
quaintance of  mine  positively  made  this  statement  to 
me,  and  I  have  reason,  from  his  candor,  to  believe 


54  MURDER    AND    CRIME. 

that  he  made  a  truthful  disclosure  of  his  experience, 
which  might  have  ended  in  years  of  toil  in  the  peni- 
tentiary. He  stated  that  a  few  years  ago  he  was 
greatly  in  need  of  four  hundred  dollars,  to  pay  the 
balance  due  on  his  farm.  His  neighbor  had  just  re- 
ceived six  hundred  dollars,  and  he  knew,  from  con- 
versation he  had  with  him,  where  it  was  kept.  An 
idea  struck  him  very  forcibly  that  his  neighbor  was 
rich  and  had  no  use  for  that  money,  while  he  was  so 
much  in  need  of  it.  This  lead  him  to  think  that  he 
could  steal  the  money,  and  no  one  would  even  know 
it, — a  thought  which,  he  said,  never  before  entered 
his  mind.  He  fixed  on  a  night  when  he  should  per- 
form this  act.  He  had  gone  about  half  the  distance 
on  his  errand  when  his  remorse  was  so  great  that  he 
returned.  He  discussed  the  pros  and  cons,  the  ifs 
and  ands,  in  his  mind  for  one  week,  when  he  made 
the  second  attempt.  This  time  he  arrived  at  the 
gate  of  the  neighbor's  house,  and  was  again  forced  to 
abandon  the  job ;  not  from  fear  of  detection,  for 
everything  was  in  his  favor  to  perpetrate  a  success- 
ful robbery;  but  the  various  faculties  of  caution, 
reason,  conscientiousness,  and  others  argued  the  right 
and  wrong  and  the  consequences  so  strongly  with  the 
faculty  of  acquisitiveness  that  they  became  masters 
of  the  situation,  and  held  in  subjection  a  power  that 
was  about  to  force  this  man  to  commit  a  crime.  All 
was  quiet  for  two  weeks,  he  making  every  endeavor 
to  hire  money ;  but  he  failed,  and  the  force  of  neces- 
sity became  so  great  that  he  was  induced  to  make 
the  third  attempt,  and  this  time  pried  open  the  win- 
dow with  a  crow-bar,  and  got  quite  into  the  room 


CONSTITUTIONAL    PREDISPOSITION    TO    CRIME.          55 

where  the  money  was,  but  abandoned  the  job  as  be- 
fore. The  next  morning  he  called  on  this  neighbor, 
and  without  any  trouble  obtained  the  requisite  loan. 
He  said  he  was  glad,  for  had  the  old  gentleman  re- 
fused, he  believed  he  should  have  attempted  it  anoth- 
er time,  and  been  successful.  Thus  we  see  that  to 
commit  crime  requires  some  practice,  some  training, 
even  where  the  disposition  is  naturally  strong.  This 
man  was  not  a  good  robber, — he  did  not  understand 
his  business.  A  little  instruction,  however,  would 
have  made  him  successful.  For  example,  had  he 
taken  a  glass  of  whisky  before  he  started,  he  would 
have  had  no  such  trouble  as  he  related.  Thousands 
of  our  criminals  first  deaden  their  moral  sensibilities 
with  some  narcotic, — most  generally  whisky, — before 
they  undertake  to  carry  out  their  criminal  designs. 
The  third  class  are  equally  acted  upon  by  force  of 
necessity ;  but  never  think  of  lying  or  stealing  to 
help  themselves  out  of  trouble.  They  use  t  means  to 
accomplish  ends,  and  endeavor  to  make  the  best  of 
life.  These  persons  are  honest,  and  would  not  lie  or 
steal,  to  make  a  cent  more.  While  traveling  with  a 
friend,  we  had  occasion  to  remain  over  night  at  a 
hotel  in  Lincoln,  111.  My  friend  had  three  hundred 
dollars,  which  he  placed  under  his  pillow  for  safety. 
The  next  morning  he  forgot  it,  and  we  left  the  town. 
It  was  not  until  the  afternoon  that  he  discovered  the 
loss.  He  immediately  returned  to  the  hotel,  with  a 
hope  of  recovering  his  money.  The  chamber-maid 
had  found  the  money  and  returned  it  to  the  clerk, 
who  locked  it  up  until  the  owner  should  call  for  it. 
The  clerk  and  the  maid  both  were  properly  rewarded 


56  MURDER    AND    CRIME. 

for  their  honesty.  This  maid  was  only  receiving 
three  dollars  per  week  for  her  labor,  and  had  also 
very  poor  clothing.  Why  did  she  not  attempt  to 
keep  this  money,  which  she  could  have  done  as  easy 
as  not  ?  Simply  for  the  reason  that  she  was  naturally 
honest.  One  not  so  would  have  stolen  the  money 
That  no  one  is  strictly  honest  is  not  true,  for  we 
could  cite  hundreds  of  similar  circumstances  that 
show  conclusively  that  there  are  persons  strictly 
honest,  who  are  naturally  and  constitutionally  in- 
clined to  do  right — to  render  unto  all  men  that  which 
belongs  to  them.  Such  persons  do  right  because  it 
is  right  to  do  right,  and  not  from  policy,  but  for  that 
reason  also  it  brings  happiness  to  themselves  as  well 
as  others. 

"  Then  be  them  to  thyself  true, 

It  will  follow,  as  does  night  the  day, 

Thou  canst  not  be  false  to  any  man." 


No.  i. 


No.  2. 


No.  3. 


No.  4. 


THE   TWO    PATHS    OF    THE    CHILD.  57 

CHAPTER   IV. 

THE    TWO    PATHS    OF    THE    CHILD. 

The  subject  of  this  chapter  is  the  child,  in  its 
career  through  life.  To  bring  the  subject  clearly 
before  the  mind  of  our  reader,  we  will  suppose  two 
boys  begin  existence  at  the  same  time,  both  born  of 
healthy  parents.  Each  of  these  boys  has  equal 
rights,  so  far  as  subsistence  is  concerned.  The  same 
sun  that  shines  on  the  one  shines  on  the  other ;  the 
same  atmosphere  supplies  both  with  oxygen ;  and 
each  have  equal  claims  upon  their  parents  and  society. 
Both  have  a  just  claim  to  a  correct  education,  a 
proper  training  of  their  faculties,  and  in  every  way 
being  fitted  to  take  their  places,  each ,  respectively  in 
his  proper  station  in  life,  becoming  a  useful  member 
of  society.  The  original  design  of  nature  in  the  crea- 
tion of  human  beings,  doubtless,  is  their  own  ulti- 
mate happiness.  But  in  these  two  boys  we  find  it  is 
quite  contrary,  the  one  going  astray  on  the  left  hand 
path,  while  the  other  continues  on  the  right  hand 
path, — the  one  leading  to  destruction  and  sorrow ; 
the  other,  to  life  and  happiness.  Why  this  is  so  is 
our  present  object  of  inquiry.  Let  us,  then,  follow 
the  one  upon  the  right  hand  path,  and  the  other  upon 
the  left  hand  path  of  life.  The  subject  of  prenatal 
condition  and  prenatal  transmission  of  constitutional 
predisposition  to  human  offspring  is  fully  discussed 
in  other  parts  of  this  book.  We  take  these  boys, 


53  MURDER    AND    CRIME. 

supposing  that  they  are  equal  in  organization,  and 
still  the  end  is  so  dissimilar:  And  why  ?  The  wood- 
cuts Nos.  i  and  2  represent  health  and  intelligence ; 
and,  as  rudimentary  human  beings,  divinity  and  holi- 
ness. No  one  can  consistently  argue  that  there  is 
any  depravity  here,  or  that  by  nature  they  spring 
into  life  "desperately  wicked."  No;  it  is  a  pleasure 
to  look  upon  them.  Every  line  marks  perfection 
upon  the  "face  divine."  They  are  both  now  on  their 
way  to  the  ultimatum  of  life.  Action  is  a  law  of 
nature,  and  these  two  boys  must  act ;  there  is  no 
standing  still.  They  take  a  step  in  advance.  And 
this  brings  us  to  the  wood-cuts  Nos.  3  and  4.  How 
different  in  appearance  !  What  a  wonderful  improve- 
ment in  the  one  on  the  right ;  and  how  different  the 
other,  on  the  left !  Let  us  inquire  into  the  reason  of 
this  change.  We  have  stated  that  both  must  act. 
Both  are  now  growing,  though  very  tender,  as  the 
little  sprout  that  makes  its  first  appearance  in  your 
garden  in  the  spring  of  the  year.  Like  the  tender 
sprout,  they  are  affected  and  mainly  controlled  by 
their  surroundings.  The  young  plant  requires  proper 
cultivation.  The  weeds  must  be  pulled  up  around  it, 
and  all  obstacles  to  a  natural  growth  removed.  If 
the  husbandman  allows  the  weeds  to  grow  up  with 
the  good  seeds  sown,  nine  chances  to  one  the  tender 
twig  becomes  crippled  and  deformed ;  and  thus  by 
neglect  a  crooked,  homely,  uncouth,  and  worthless 
tree  in  after  life  is  the  result.  So  with  our  two  boys. 
No  matter  how  pure  the  germ,  by  neglect  of  the 
proper  cultivation  of  the  germinal  faculties,  and  the 
physiology  of  the  body,  depravity  soon  stamps  itself 


THE    TWO    PATHS    OF    THE    CHILI).  59 

upon  the  physiognomy,  and  it  is  apparent  to  every  one 
acquainted  with  human  nature,  that  this  boy  is  on  the 
high  road  to  disease,  sorrow,  and  crime. 

The  boy  on  the  right  hand  path  has  thus  far  re- 
ceived proper  cultivation  of  the  faculties ;  his  sur- 
roundings are  more  favorable ;  the  example  of  his 
parents  is  better ;  and  he  is  growing  under  the  sun- 
shine of  right  training,  correct  associations,  and  happy 
surroundings.  His  mother  does  not  tell  him  a  lie 

o 

every  time  she  goes  away  from  home.  The  father 
does  not  every  day  make  the  boy  great  promises 
which  he  does  not  keep.  He  does  not  use  profane 
language,  nor  chew  tobacco,  nor  drink  intoxicating 
drinks,  nor  allow  himself  to  become  angry  in  the 
presence  of  his  child.  He  never  leaves  home  with- 
out a  kiss  anda"by-by,  Johnny."  He  awards  his 
boy  for  the  good  he  does,  and  explains  the  right  in 
contrast  to  the  wrong.  Instead  of  applying  the,  rod 
he  reasons  with  his  boy,  and  by  example  teaches  him 
to  return  good  for  evil.  The  mother  co-operates  in 
this  great  work,  and  if  she  is  a  true  mother  she  will 
take  the  lead.  These  good  parents  select  proper 
associations  for  their  child,  and  always  know  where 
he  is,  and  what  he  is  doing.  They  will  teach  him 
correct  habits  of  life ;  •  how  to  divide  his  time, — a 
time  to  play,  a  time  to  work,  a  time  to  eat,  a  time  to 
read,  a  time  to  go  to  school,  a  time  to  sleep.  They 
will  select  the  proper  kinds  of  food,  and  prepare  it 
in  a  healthful  manner.  They  will  teach  him  how  to 
bathe  and  keep  clean,  how  to  exercise,  and  how  to 
rest.  They  will  also  provide  the  proper  kind  of 
literature,  and  in  every  way  see  that  their  boy 


6O  MURDER   AND    CRIME. 

receives  a  well-balanced  education — physically,  mor- 
ally, intellectually,  and  socially.  They  will  also 
provide  him  with  some  employment. 

The  boy  on  the  left  hand  receives  the  opposite  at- 
tention, and  we  find  opposite  results.  He  grows  up 
among  the  weeds  of  unfavorable  surroundings,  and 
we  behold  the  effects  in  his  face.  He  is  a  "  crooked 
stick"  at  best;  and  what  shall  we  do  with  him? 
By  practice  and  cultivation,  human  depravity  may 
be  changed  from  bad  to  worse  or  from  depravity 
to  goodness.  This  boy,  if  allowed  to  go  on  under 
the  thus  far  unfavorable  training,  and  neglect  of 
proper  cultivation,  will  continue  to  become  more 
and  more  degenerated;  but,  like  the  little  plant 
in  the  garden,  which  the  weeds  may  have  almost 
smothered,  by  careful  cultivation  may  become  re- 
vived, improved,  and  end  in  a  moderately  fine  growth. 
By  removing  all  unfavorable  influences,  correcting 
the  daily  habits,  setting  a  good  example,  and  giving 
both  body  and  mind  the  proper  exercise,  this  boy 
may  also  pass  upon  the  right  hand  path.  But  while 
this  work  of  reformation  is  accomplishing,  the  first 
boy  has  steadily  progressed ;  consequently,  the  boy 
who  has  spent  say  five  years  in  the  wrong  direction 
is  just  thus  far  in  the  rear ;  so  much  of  his  life  is  lost 
to  him.  But  we  are  safe  in  asserting  that  the  boy 
who  has  moved  five  years  upon  the  left  hand  path 
has  lost  ten  years ;  for  it  will  take  five  years  to  get 
back  to  the  first  position.  To  acquire  a  second 
nature  will  require  considerable  time,  and  I  am  of 
the  opinion  that  it  will  take  longer  to  overcome  a 
second  nature,  than  it  did  to  acquire  it ;  hence 


THE    TWO    PATHS    OF    THE    CHILD.  6 1 

all  reformation  is  slow.  The  application  of  princi- 
ples of  cure  must  be  strictly  natural.  The  young 
are  easily  lead  out  of  the  right  path,  but  are  also 
more  easily  set  right  again.  A  boy  can  contract  the 
habit  of  chewing  tobacco  in  from  one  to  two  weeks, 
and  in  about  the  same  time  can  cure  himself  again. 
But  if  the  habit  is  continued  to  adult  age,  it  will  be 
difficult  to  reform.  So  in  regard  to  any  of  the  vices. 
Parents,  and  men  and  women  in  general,  you  can- 
not be  too  careful  in  setting  a  good  example  before 
children  ;  for  the  child  observes  and  copies 

EVERY  STEP  YOU  TAKE. 

Thence  we  can  justly  hold  parents  and  society  re- 
sponsible, to  a  great  extent,  for  the  deeds  of  the  ris- 
ing generation.  The  boy  whom  we  picture  upon  the 
right  path  would  not  thus  remain  in  the  right  were 
there  no  inducements,  or  if  he  were  not  assisted  and 
guided  by  his  parents,  associates,  teachers,  and  per- 
sons who  live  by  the  precepts  which  they  teach. 
Neither  would  the  boy  whom  we  picture  upon  the 
left,  pursue  so  unnatural  and  unhappy  a  course  were 
he  not  stimulated  in  that  direction.  It  is  a  maxim 
that  you  must  bend  the  tree  while  it  is  yet  young, 
for  when  old  it  is  almost  impossible.  "  Train  up  the 
child  in  the  way  he  should  go,  and  when  he  is  old  he 
will  not  depart  from  it."  In  our  story  of  these  two 
boys,  we  have  divided  human  life  into, four  stages  : 
childhood,  youth,  manhood,  and  old  age.  The  most 
important  of  these  four  stages  is  childhood ;  hence 
here  is  where  we  must  begin  our  work  of  correcting, 


62  MURDER    AND    CRIME. 

educating,  and  drawing  out  the  principles  of  good- 
ness originally  implanted  in  place  of  the  evil ;  for— 
as  we  hold — either  good  or  evil  principles  may,  by 
education,  become  the  ruling  power  through  life. 
Napoleon  once  said,  "  Give  me  the  children  of  any 
nation,  and  I  will  overthrow  the  government  of  that 
nation  in  ten  years."  We  will  be  more  reasonable, 
and  say,  take  the  children  for  the  next  twenty  years, 
and  we  can  banish  whisky  from  the  land,  or  recon- 
struct our  entire  government,  if  it  be  necessary  for 
the  happiness  of  our  people.  To  accomplish  this,  it 
will  simply  be  necessary  to  so  instruct  the  faculties 
and  powers  of  the  child  as  to  keep  it  upon  the  right- 
hand  path  of  life.  If  we  would  increase  our  drink- 
ing shops,  give  lawyers  and  physicians  plenty  of  work, 
fill  our  poor  houses,  insane  asylums,  and  prisons,  all 
that  is  required  is  to  stimulate  and  foster  the  propen- 
sities, faculties,  and  passions  of  the  child  tending  to 
keep  it  upon  the  left-hand  path  of  life.  And  in 
twenty  years  this  nation  will  be  sufficiently  miserable, 
even  so  as  to  open  direct  communication  with  the 
great  city  of  destruction,  sending  its  victims  upon 
the  left-hand  path  as  it  were  with  lightning  speed, 
the  child  making  its  journey  in  a  few  years. 

Let  us  now  take  a  step  in  advance,  and  follow  our 
two  boys  through  the  second  stage  of  life — from 
youth  to  manhood.  Here,  as  before,  our  illustra- 
tions speak  for  themselves.  Behold  wood-cuts  Nos. 
5  and  6.  What  a  wonderful  change  has  been  wrought 
in  the  constitutions  of  these  two  boys!  No.  5  shows 
evident  improvement.  See  how  cleanly  and  tidy  he 
appears  in  his  dress ;  his  hair  properly  combed ;  his 


No.  5. 


No.  6. 


No.  8. 


THE  TWO  PATHS  OF  THE  CHILD.         63 

form  straight  and  comely ;  his  figure  attractive ;  his 
forehead  massive;  his  eyes  lively  and  bright.  In  a 
word,  his  face  bespeaks  intelligence,  refinement,  and 
a  moral  and  religious  character,  which  makes  every- 
body love  him,  speak  well  of  him,  and,  in  the  language 
of  the  poet, 

"  Behold  in  him  .a  man." 

He  was  taught  all  the  liberal  branches  of  educa- 
tion, and  not  only  caused  to  speak  his  pieces,  but  by 
precept  daily,  step  after  step,  to  bring  into  practice 
all  the  requisite  qualifications  necessary  to  make  an 
exemplary  man ;  enabling  him  to  take  his  place  in 
life  as  parent,  teacher,  preacher,  lawyer,  physician, 
statesman,  or  to  pursue  any  other  honorable  voca- 
tion in  life  equally  necessary  to  make  up  what  we 
truly  may  term  good  society. 

Now,  let  us  behold  for  a  moment  wood-cut  No.  6. 
We  see  that  a  wonderful  change  has  been  wrought 
since  we  saw  him  in  youth.  His  tilting  hat,  his  cigar 
in  his  mouth,  scars  upon  his  face,  roguish  eyes,  un- 
couth appearance,  filthy,  shabby  clothing,  deformed 
figure, — in  a  word,  his  face  and  general  appearance, 
—bespeak  depravity.  Physically,  mentally,  and 
morally  he  is  almost  a  wreck.  He  did  not  "  usure 
with  his  talents,"  he  did  not  make  use  of  every  op- 
portunity to  improve  his  powers  in  the  right  direc- 
tion. It  may  have  been  that  he  learned  to  speak  his 
piece  in  school,  but  was  not  taught  by  precept.  His 
mother  sent  him  to  school  to  get  him  out  of  her 
way;  allowed  him  to  play  on  the  street  till  ten  o'clock 
in  the  night,  to  keep  him  out  of  her  way.  His  father 


64  MURDER   AND    CRIME. 

spent  his  evenings  down  town.  The  boy  received 
attention  only  when  a  bad  report  was  brought  to  the 
father  or  the  mother,  when  he  was  punished  with  a 
rawhide.  He  learned  to  hate  his  parents.  '  The  fac- 
ulty of  combativeness  was  strongly  stimulated  at 
home,  and  fighting  with  other  boys,  and  being  nat- 
urally intelligent, — "made  of  good  grit," — was  soon 
called  a  "jocky  fellow,"  took  his  glass  with  ease,  threw 
the  dice  skillfully,  and  won  at  games  of  cards.  His 
vocation  was  that  of  a  vagabond,  liar,  robber,  and 
"  black-leg,"  in  general ;  he  was  well  trained  in  his 
profession,  understood  every  turn  and  sharp  hit  cal- 
culated to  make  him  a  successful  pilgrim  upon  the 
left-hand  path  of  life.  He  possessed  every  qualifica- 
tion to  make  him  distinguished  among  his  fellows  — 
the  elements  necessary  to  make  up  what  we  may  call 
"  very  bad  society." 

I  must  beg  to  be  indulged  here,  and  revert  again 
in  this  boy's  history  to  one  prevalent  cause  which 
leads  its  thousands  upon  the  wrong  path,  where  the 
majority  end  their  life  in  disgrace — perhaps  in  prison, 
perhaps  on  the  gallows;  or,  at  least,  live  an  unhappy 
life,  die  broken-hearted,  and  prematurely  end  a  life 
which  otherwise  might  have  been  prolonged.  I  refer 
to  the  literature 

OF  TO-DAY, 

which  is  so  extensively  circulated"  throughout  the 
land, — such  as  the  Police  Gazette,  New  York  Ledger, 
New  York  Weekly,  Saturday  Night,  sporting  papers, 
dime  novels,  and  higher-priced  novels,  tragical  litera- 


THE    TWO    PATHS    OF    THE    CHILD.  65 

ture,  unnatural  love  stories,  robber  books,  tragical 
theatrical  performances,  nude  and  immodest  exhibi- 
tions of  women  in  theaters,  and  illustrations  in  papers 
and  books,  all  only  intended  to  draw  out,  or  act  upon 
the  passions  and  faculties  of  the  lowest  order  of 
men  and  women.  This  sort  of  literature  we  term 
light  reading,  and  literature  of  easy  virtue.  This 
kind  of  reading  feeds  the  mind  the  same  as  pork, 
coffee,  and  tobacco  would  feed  the  body,  and  will 
produce  discord  among  the  faculties.  The  person  so 
educated  searches  after  the  enjoyment  of  those  un- 
natural conditions  with  which  the  mind  is  impressed. 
The  subject  of  this  chapter,  the  boy  on  the  left-hand 
path,  was  mainly  fed  on  this  kind  of  literature — sus- 
tained by  gaming  for  money,  "  bad  whisky,"  and  worse 
than  all,  evil  associations. 

I  am  well  acquainted  with  the  history  of  a  man 
who  \vas  born  on  an  adjoining  farm.  We  grew  up 
together  until  we  were  fifteen  years  of  age,  he  being 
one  year  my  senior.  He  was  not  a  bad  boy.  His 
mother  was  a  very  good  woman.  His  father  was  a 
man  of  easy  virtue,  yet  no  one  could  speak  aught  of 
him.  The  father,  however,  indulged  the  boy  in  many 
things,  such  as  an  occasional  fight  at  school,  which 
was  well  enough  in  self-defence,  but  this  boy  brought 
on  quarrels,  and  his  father  did  not  reprove  him,  but 
always  spoke  of  his  "  smart  boy."  At  the  age  of 
fourteen,  some  one  in  the  little  town,  within  one  mile 
of  our  homes,  loaned  him  the  History,  Life  and 
Death  of  that  noted  robber  and  murderer,  John  A. 
Murrel.  He  read  and  studied  that  book  until  he 
could  almost  repeat  it  from  memory.  This  was  the 

5 


66  MURDER    AND    CRIME 

beginning  of  his  ruin.  He  bought  and  borrowed  all 
this  sort  of  literature  that  was  at  his  command,  and 
I  often  heard  him  say  that  some  day  he  should  be 
distinguished  as  a  highway  robber.  This  was  all 
kept  from  his  mother,  but  the  father  gave  him  money 
to  buy  novels.  ;  At  the  age  of  sixteen,  he  ran  away 
from  home,  following  the  Ohio  river.  He  served  a 
time  in  the  Tennessee  penitentiary,  and  now  is  learn- 
ing the  cooper  trade  in  the  penitentiary,  at  Jefferson- 
ville,  Indiana.  His  mother  died  in  great  sorrow, 
lamenting  to  her  last  moments  the  loss  of  her  son, 
who  was  once  a  noble  boy. 

Our  hero  upon  the  left-hand  path  possessed  an 
extraordinarily  strong  constitution,  or  he  would  have 
died  long  before  he  even  reached  middle  age.  It  is 
a  physiological  law  that  those  who  live  a  life  of  de- 
bauchery, and  in  violation  of  nature's  laws,  do  not 
live  out  half  the  days  allotted  them  by  nature.  An 
unbalanced  education  of  the  moral  and  intellectual 
nature,  and  disobedience  to  the  health-giving  princi- 
ples of  the  body,  create  conditions  well  illustrated  in 
wood-cut  No.  8.  Contrast  this  with  wood-cut  No.  7, 
and  we  see  the  end  of  our  two  boys,  who  started  in 
life  at  the  same  time  and  under  similar  conditions. 
How  different  is  the  end  !  Our  boy  on  the  left  con- 
tracted gradually,  through  life,  such  habits,  and 
acquired  such  conditions  as  are  now  lashing  him  even 
unto  death.  His  own  vagabond  friends  have  for- 
saken htm,  society  despises  him,  though,  to  a  great 
extent,  he  is  the  workmanship  of  its  own  hands.  The 
good  people  of  the  church  give  him  but  little  atten- 
tion ;  the  day  of  reformation  is  passed.  Retribution 


THE  TWO  PATHS  OF  THE  CHILD.         67 

surely  follows  sin.  Nature  is  "true  to  herself."  Dis- 
eased in  soul  and  body,  what  shall  we  do  for  him, — 
kill  him,  nurse  him,  teach  him,  or  doctor  him?  (See 
Part  Second  of  this  book.)  He  would  prefer  death, 
if  he  could  die.  He  calls  aloud  for  some  healing 
balm — for  some  one  to  cool  his  parched  lips.  Earth 
has  no  charms  for  him ;  all  his  joys  have  been  en- 
gulfed in  the  sea  of  vice;  the  world  has  forsaken 
him,  and  now,  an  inmate  of  a  prison  cell,  chained  and 
condemned  to  death  for  crime. 

The  boy  originally  pure  and  divine, 

The  most  miserable  now  of  human  kind  ; 

Every  act  of  life  wrote  upon  his  face 

That  the  good  was  there,  but  vice  now  took  its  place. 

Wood-cut  No.  7  represents  our  boy  on  the  right- 
hand  path  in  old  age.  Here  we  behold  the  marks  of 
a  well-spent  life.  The  opposite  represents  a  life  of 
depravity  ;  but  this,  purity  and  good  intentions.  He 
has  labored  for  himself;  he  has  labored  for  others. 
His  heart  beats  for  all  mankind;  he  is  the  good  old 
grandfather,  giving  good  advice  to  the  rising  genera- 
tion. His  mind  is  well  stored  with  knowledge;  all 
of  his  faculties  have  been  well  trained  through  life, 
and  consequently  he  is  as  happy  as  life  can  make 
him.  Such  a  man  is  not  afraid  to  die ;  he  is  pre- 
pared for  death, — happy  in  life,  happy  in  death, — and 
the  future  can  bring  nothing  but  happiness.  •  A 
healthy  body,  healthy  mind,  and  healthy  character 
are  the  best  qualifications  to  enable  us  to  pass  into 
that  happy  state  called  Heaven. 


68  MURDER    AND    CRIME. 


CHAPTER  V. 

ON  MAN'S  SOCIAL  NATURE. 
Man  is  an  intellectual,  moral,  and  social  beino;.     In 

o 

this  only  is  he  distinguished  from,  and  rises  above  all 
other  created  beings.  The  intellectual  gives  him 
understanding,  the  moral  a  sense  of  ri^ht  and  wrono-, 

o'  o  o 7 

and  the  social  a  desire  to  associate  with  his  fellows, 
which  makes  him  friendly,  happy,  and  is  that  'which 
forms  society.  The  first  object  or  desire  with  all 
human  beings  is  to  be  happy.  This  he  seeks  in 
various  channels;  if  he  fail  in  one,  he  will  try  an- 
other ;  sometimes  he  lays  his  plans  and  labors  for  a 
lifetime  in  a  certain  direction,  overcoming  all  obsta- 
cles in  the  way,  and  often  at  the  end  of  life  finds  it 
all  a  failure.  He  seeks  congenial  associations  in  the 
various  organizations  of  society,  and  only  to  renew 
his  search  when  he  finds  himself  disappointed.  He 
will  labor  and  study  how  to  accumulate  wealth,  all  to 
gain  social  position,  and  each  year  he  adds  to  his 
"  glistening  store  ;"  still  the  desired  end  has  not  been 
reached.  He  leaves  his  rural  vocation  for  some  petty 
office  in  a  crowded  city,  and  only  regrets  his  step 
when  too  late.  Wjhile  young  he  aspires  to  some  pro- 
fession ;  he  enters  it  with  great  expectations,  and 
only  sees  his  folly  in  after  life.  He  soon  finds  there 
is  no  royal  road  to  professional  distinction.  So,  in 
every  vocation  and  channel  of  human  life,  men  and 
women  are  daily  discouraged  at  finding  the  road  to 


ON  MAN'S  SOCIAL  NATURE.  6g 

social,  political,  and  professional  position  and  fame 
beset  with  thorns  on  all  sides,  and  happiness  is  not 
to  be  found  in  that  direction. 

Men  and  women  in  their  social  intercourse  with 
each  other  are  mainly  attracted  and  repelled,  to  or 
from  each  other,  by  two  forces,  which  are  antago- 
nistic, and  bring  untold  misery  and  unhappiness  to 
individuals,  communities,  and  society  in  general. 
These  two  forces  are  wealth  and  poverty;  wealth 
attracts  and  poverty  repels.  Those  who  are  poor 
are  constantly  striving  to  gain  wealth,  at  least  a  home, 
and  as  the  common  expression  is,  appear  moderately 
well  in  society.  Those  who  have  wealth  are  con- 
stantly afraid  that  the  poor  will  rise  and  become  their 
equals.  The  mistress  is  terribly  chagrined  if  Bridget 
should  manage,  by  industry,  to  treat  herself  to  a 
dress  nearly  as  good  as  her  mistress,  especially  if  she 
has  it  made  fashionably.  The  capitalist  has  all  that 
money  can  buy;  he  lives  in  a  fine  house,  drives  his 
fine  horses,  keeps  his  servants,  wears  fine  clothing, 
gets  into  office,  makes  our  laws,  and  is  said  to  be 
respectable.  He  is  the  center  of  attraction,  and  peo- 
ple will  spend  their  last  dollar  to  keep  up  appearances 
in  society.  The  poor  man,  the  laborer,  the  mechanic, 
the  clerk,  the  student,  have  social  organs,  as  well  as 
the  rich,  which  demand  social  position.  Yet  he 
thinks  the  rich  are  happy,  and  the  poor  only  miserable. 
They  are  excluded  from  the  social  intercourse  of 
what  is  called  respectable  society,  and  happiness 
comes  not  to  them. 

They  are  forced  to  associate  with  those  in  equal 
financial  circumstances;  and  thus  the  mechanic,  the 


7O  MURDER    AND    CRIME. 

laborer,  or  what  is  termed,  in  the  language  of  society, 
the  "  irrepressibles,"  the  non-respectable  class,  become 
the  center  of  repulsion.  There  is  a  constant  effort 
on  the  one  hand  to  establish  a  social  line  of  demar- 
cation, and  on  the  other  hand,  a  terrible  strife  to  tear 
it  down,  to  blot  out,  if  possible,  all  such  distinction. 
Here  is  a  prolific  source,  which  furnishes  the  majority 
of  our  criminals.  It  killed  Fisk ;  it  kills  its  thou- 
sands; it  grinds  the  poor;  it  jeopardizes  the  rich 
man's  wealth  ;  it  enters  all  stations  of  life,  and  fur- 
nishes its  victims ;  it  fills  our  prisons,  the  gallows, 
with  its  culprits,  the  asylum  with  its  inmates,  the 
county-house  with  its  paupers,  and  throws  little 
orphans  upon  the  cold  charities  of  the  world,  without 
a  guiding  star,  whither  to  steer  their  little  bark  upon 
the  life  current  of  the  world.  Man  is  a  social  being, 
and  often  uses  wrong  means  to  satisfy  the  social  na- 
ture. This  he  is  forced  to  do  nine  times  out  of  ten 
by  society.  The  fifty  or  hundred  dollars  a  month  is 
not  sufficient  to  pay  rent,  or  pay  on  a  little  home,  to 
feed  and  clothe  the  children,  and  buy  silk  dresses  or 
velvet  cloaks  for  the  wife,  in  order  to  appear  well  in 
society.  Now,  if  the  lie  is  not  told  to  make  the  dol- 
lar, or,  under  cover  of  the  night,  property  unlawfully 
appropriated,  they  withdraw  from  society,  and  live  a 
life  of  comparative  seclusion,  which  is  almost  as  sure 
to  lead  to  crime  as  if  the  first  inclination  had  been 
indulged.  By  and  by,  they  become  dissatisfied  with 
life,  and  soon  misunderstandings  between  husband 
and  wife  end  in  an  unhappy  manner,  for  which  they 
are  severely  censured  by  society,  and  receive  not  the 
slightest  sympathy.  The  children  imbibe  from  their 


ON  MAN'S  SOCIAL  NATURE. 


parents'  bad  example  an  unhappy  disposition,  and  if 
the  difficulty  is  not  cured,  and  they  do  not  commit 
crime,  their  offspring,  almost  as  a  rule, end  in  the 
commission  of  some  terrible  crime,  to  which,  I  hold, 
society  is  accessory,  and  should  be  held  responsible 
as  well  as  the  poor  victim. 

Society  has  not  provided  a  place  of  amusement 
for  the  working  class  to  attend  once  a  week  for  a 
mere  nominal  sum,  where  the  social  nature  and  other 
faculties  of  the  mind  can  have  an  hour's  relaxation 
from  the  cares  and  labors  of  the  day.  There  are  no 
lecture  halls  where  the  working  man  with  his  family 
can  attend  once  a  week  free,  or  at  least,  for  a  small 
sum,  where  our  lecturers,  physicians,  clergymen,  law- 
yers, statesmen,  scientists,  teachers,  farmers,  mechan- 
ics, and  business  men,  should  be  invited  to  lecture,  in 
the  course  of  the  year,  on  all  subjects  pertaining  to 
man's  education,  reformation,  and  cultivation  of  the 
various  faculties,  and  thus  tend  to  improve  the  con- 
dition of  all  classes.  Other  public  institutions  ot 
learning  should  be  erected  in  every  community,  as 
we  shall  show  in  another  part  of  this  work,  where  the 
social  as  well  as  the  intellectual  and  moral  faculties 
may  receive  proper  attention.  The  social  "  rings," 
as  they  now  exist  in  society,  I  think,  are  productive 
of  evil.  Like  many  "  rings,"  monopolies,  and  asso- 
ciations which  combine  their  efforts  in  order  to  gain 
the  controlling  power,  society  has  gradually  been  or- 
ganized into  "rings,"  monopolizing  power,  which 
should  be  discouraged.  The  social  faculties  require 
careful  training  the  same  as  the  intellectual  and  moral. 
These  faculties  are  blind,  and  rush  headlong  in  the 


72  MURDER    AND    CRIME. 

pursuit  of  happiness,  irrespective  of  right  and  wrong, 
or  consequences ;  that  is,  a  man  or  woman  unac- 
quainted with  physiology  will,  under  the  influence  of 
the  social  nature  alone,  indulge  in  the  social  glass, 
and  while  having  a  "jolly  good  time,"  circumstances 
over  which  their  intellectual  and  moral  faculties  have 
lost  all  control,^will  force  them  on,  and  before  they 
have  regained  their  equanimity,  have  committed  some 
terrible  crime.  The  condition  or  end  of  such  per- 
sons is  brought  about  generally  by  a  slow  process ; 
gradually  indulging  uncultivated  inclinations  ;  igno- 
rantly,  or  by  circumstances  over  which,  as  individuals 
alone,  they  have  no  control,  contracting  a  sort  of 
mania,  and  becoming  dangerous  members  of  society. 

Another,  uninformed  and  unbalanced,  fosters  his 
social  propensities,  and  labors  from  morning  till 
night,  year  in  and  year  out,  in  accumulating  a  few 
dollars  more,  mainly  to  gain  a  high  social  position. 
The  intellectual  and  moral  is  called  into  requisition, 
mainly  to  aid  the  social  inclinations,  irrespective  of 
the  right  or  the  wrong,  so  the  end  is  attained.  If 
this  course  be  persisted  in,  or  unrestrained,  it  will  end 
in  crime.  Society  is  the  actuating  principle  ;  wealth 
the  attractive,  and  poverty  the  repelling  force.  Such 
persons  are  living  in  constant  fear  of  becoming  poor, 
and,  if  so,  they  would  be  forever  in  discord  ;  conse- 
quently we  find  a  wonderful  struggle  among  men  and 
women  to  rise  and  "get  a  little  more." 

The  affections  and  the  sexual  passions,  unrestrained 
and  uncultivated,  lead  thousands  into  criminal  chan- 
nels, secret  vices,  and  social  discord.  Society  has  a 
thousand  and  more  allurements  to  entrap  and  seduce 


ON    MANS    SOCIAL    NATURE.  73 

those  who  have  by  nature,  or  by  virtue  of  birth,  these 
faculties  large,  and  are  otherwise  unbalanced  in  their 
intellectual,  moral  and  social  nature.  Men  and  wo- 
men disguise  their  true  nature  by  art,  dress,  and 
"putting  on  style."  The  little  girl  is  dressed  a  la 
mode  by  exposing  her  legs,  regardless  of  modesty 
and  physiological  laws,  ruining  her  health,  and  per- 
verting her  social  nature,  all  to  be  in  style,  and  ap- 
pear well  in  fashionable  society.  Society — what  a 
word !  who  knows  what  it  is,  and  what  it  means  ? 
How  little  attention  is  given  by  the  people  to  the 
wonderful  influence  that  society  exerts  upon  the 
moral  and  social  nature  of  the  individual.  Atten- 
tion is  only  given  to  the  unfortunate  one  who  is 
caught  stealing,  or  in  the  commission  of  any  other 
crime, and  society  cries  aloud,"  Protection,  protection 
against  such  fiends !"  No  one  ever  suggests  the  idea 
of  inquiring  into  the  cause  of  a  murder  or  any  other 
crime.  It  is  true,  the  immediate  provocations  are 
sufficiently  investigated  at  the  time  of  the  trial. 
This  is  simply  treating  the  wound  inflicted  upon  so- 
ciety; and  the  constitutional,  predisposing  cause, 
which  permeates  the  very  soul  and  body  of  society, 
of  which  the  poor  criminal  is  simply  a  slight  erup- 
tion, is  lost  sight  of;  and  thus  we  are  only  treating 
the  effect,  instead  of  removing  the  cause.  Law  is 
only  instituted  to  reach  the  criminal ;  lawyers  deal 
only  with  the  criminal ;  physicians  prescribe  only  for 
the  sick ;  and  society  makes  no  real  provision  for  the 
prevention  of  crime.  Let  the  lawyer  lecture  upon 
the  philosophy  of  "  Law  and  Order ;"  the  physician, 
on  physiology,  natural  laws,  and  how  to  be  healthy; 


74  MURDER   AND    CRIME. 

the  teacher,  on  the  understanding ;  the  clergyman, 
on  moral  philosophy;  and  the  scientist,  on  science, 
etc.  And  I  apprehend,  when  we  open  these  various 
channels  of  education,  in  addition  to  those  that  are 
now  in  operation  (and,  I  hope,  are  in  good  working 
order),  that  the  time  is  not  far  hence  when  society 
will  be  so  reformed  that  comparatively  few  crimes 
will  be  perpetrated.  We,  then,  lay  crime  at  the  door 
of  society ;  and  to  eradicate  it  from  among  us,  more 
attention  must  be  given  to  the  cultivation  of  the  so- 
cial, as  well  as  the  moral  and  intellectual  faculties  of 
the  rising  generation. 


THE    WORKING    MAN,  75 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE    WORKING    MAN. 

The  working  men  and  women  constitute  the  only- 
foundation  upon  which  we  can  base  the  perpetuation 
of  our  civilized  and  republican  form  of  government. 
Capital  has  been  said  to  be  superior  to  labor,  and  to 
control  it.  This  I  do  not  credit,  however.  A  man 
can  till  the  soil,  and  grow  potatoes,  wheat,  and  corn, 
thus  maintaining  a  subsistence  independent  of  capi- 
tal. Therefore,  I  hold  that  labor  should  be  honored, 
and  capital  made  subordinate,  or  better,  be  co-opera- 
tive, as  either  is  almost  indispensable ;  but  we  cannot 
admit  that  capital  is  the  superior.  By  the  working 
men  and  women,  we  mean  all  those  people  who  labor 
for  a  living.  The  men  and  women  who  labor  with 
their  hands  in  the  shop  or  field  to  maintain  an  hon- 
orable subsistence,  are, — other  things  being  equal, — 
in  my  judgment,  the  respectable  classes.  So  long  as 
society  judges  men  by  the  clothes  they  wear,  the 
amount  of  money  and  property  they  own,  so  long 
will  true  merit,  honesty  in  motive,  intellectual  and 
moral  acquirements,  go  unrewarded,  and  will  not  be 
considered  necessary  qualifications  to  attain  an  hon- 
orable position  in  society. 

44  If  I  were  tall  to  reach  the  pole, 
Or  grasp  the  ocean  in  my  span, 

I  must  be  measured  by  my  soul, 
For  the  mind's  the  standard  of  the  man." 


76  MURDER    AND    CRIME. 

True  merit  of  character,  honest  motives,  educ; 
tional  attainments,  dignified  deportment,  etiquette 
strictly  based  upon  the  laws  of  nature,  truth,  love, 
and  friendship,  are  qualifications  which  society  should 
hold  at  a  high  premium,  rather  than  at  a  discount. 
To  acquire  these  requisite  individual  attainments, 
and  reconstruct  society  so  that  the  greatest  amount 
of  happiness  may  come  unto  all  classes  of  men,  and 
thereby  prevent  future  commission  of  crime,  the  con- 
dition of  the  working  classes  must  be  so  improved 
that  greater  facilities  are  given  for  the  expansion  and 
development  of  the  higher  nature  of  mankind. 

In  the  condition  in  which  we  now  find  the  working 
man,  he  has  but  little  time,  and  much  less  opportu- 
nity, to  attend  to  the  exercise  of  his  natural  faculties. 
The  majority  of  the  working  classes  are  comparative- 
ly short  lived,  the  average  longevity  of  the  men  and 
women  of  our  factories  and  shops,  the  mechanic  and 
common  laborer,  being  only  about  twenty-eight  years, 
while  those  who  carry  on  business,  the  professional, 
and  the  wealthy,  attain  an  average  longevity  of  about 
forty;  proving  conclusively  that  the  physical  condi- 
tion of  the  working  classes  is  not  so  favorable  to 
length  of  days  as  that  of  the  last  class  mentioned. 

It  is  a  physiological  truth  that  a  man  laboring  in- 
cessantly for  ten  or  twelve  hours  out  of  twenty-four 
expends  each  day  a  greater  amount  of  vital  force 
than  nature  is  enabled  to  restore  during  the  few 
hours  of  rest  and  sleep  which  he  is  permitted  to  en- 
joy, especially  if  he  should  set  apart  three  or  four 
hours  for  mental  improvement — reading,  conversing, 
attending  lectures  or  places  of  amusement.  By  this 


THE    WORKING    MAN.  JJ 

means  he  becomes  physically  and  mentally  unbal- 
anced. His  body  becomes  diseased,  and,  of  course, 
the  mind  sympathizes, — he  is  made  unhappy ;  life 
has  lost  its  pleasures,  and  if  he  does  not  commit 
crime,  his  offspring  will ;  and  he  succumbs  to  the 
destroying  force  that  prematurely  ends  his  sorrowful 
life,  which  otherwise  might  have  been  prolonged  and 
made  happy.  A  man  performing  what  is  called  "  a 
good  day's  work"  of  ten  hours'  hard  labor  requires,  it 
he  complies  with  physiological  laws,  at  least  three 
hours  to  attend  to  his  toilet  and  other  little  matters 
about  his  home  (for  working  men,  as  a  rule,  cannot 
keep  body  servants),  before  the  bodily  forces  react 
and  become  moderately  well  balanced — before  he  is 
really  in  a  condition  to  give  the  brain-work  the  neces- 
sary attention.  We  would  give  him  three  or  four 
hours  for  mental  improvement,  and  the  time  required 
to  come  and  go  to  and  from  his  place  of  labor. 
Thus,  altogether,  at  least,  eighteen  hours  of  his  daily 
life  are  spent  in  a  state  of  activity,  expending  a 
greater  amount  of  vital  force  than  is  re-accumulated. 
To  say  nothing  of  the  restless  hours  spent  in  bed, 
trying  to  go  to  sleep,  and  the  many  hours  during 
which  the  various  faculties  of  the  mind  receive  no  at- 
tention, we  still  find  the  majority  of  the  working 
class  in  a  very  deplorable  condition,  viewing  the  sub- 
ject, as  we  do,  from  a  physiological  standpoint.  Life 
itself  is  an  expenditure  of  the  original  vital  capital 
transmitted  by  parental  creation,  and  if  we  in  an  un- 
natural manner  call  an  extra  amount  into  use,  with- 
out attention  given  to  the  necessary  restorative 
means,  we  cut  short  our  existence,  and  render  our 


78  MURDER    AND    CRIME. 

days  most  miserable.  So  long,  then,  as  men  disobey 
physiological  laws  in  their  various  corporeal  exer- 
cises, in  their  daily  vocations,  and  in  the  exercise  of 
the  mind,  so  long  will  we  have  need  for  courts  of 
justice,  and  prisons. 

Science  has  revealed  many  truths,  as  well  as 
Divine  revelations,  and  among  those  revelations  is 
the  now  established  maxim  that  physical  de- 
pravity creates  intellectual  as  well  as  moral 
and  social  depravity.  To  avert  the  present  tenden- 
cies of  crime,  bring  about  a  general  regeneration  of 
each  individual  member  of  society,  and  establish  new 
institutions  of  learning,  and  additional  methods  of 
developing  that  divine  and  more  noble  nature  of 
man.  All  have  a  common  interest  in  the  work,  and 
all  should  take  a  part.  I  will  state  here  a  firm  con- 
viction, formed  from  long  observation,  that  too  much 
one-sided  education  has  been  given  to  the  rising  gen- 
eration in  times  past;  z.  e.y  the  churches  have  hitherto 
mainly  given  their  whole  time  to  the  cultivation  of 
the  moral  and  religious  nature  alone,  while  the  laws 
governing  the  corporeal  are  almost  wholly,  neglected. 
I  will  illustrate  my  idea.  A  celebrated  clergyman  in 
Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  receives  a  salary  of  twenty  thousand 
dollars.  Fifteen  thousand  dollars  of  that  money  is 
invested  in  a  corn  farm.  The  products  of  that  farm 
are  gathered  and  sold  to  the  distillers,  and  that  fiery 
liquid,  alcohol,  which  all  nature  universally  abhors,  is 
bottled  and  sold  at  the  highest  market  price  to  the 
very  class  of  men,  whom,  by  his  previous  labors,  he 
sought  to  reform,  to  convince  of  their  sins,  and,  if 
possible, 

"  To  render  happier  a  cheerless  lot." 


THE    WORKING    MAN.  79 

But  by  this  means  all  is  counteracted,  and  if  any 
difference  in  the  condition  of  men,  they  are  worse 
than  if  the  first  effort  had  not  been  made.  By  this 
illustration  I  wish  to  convey  this  idea :  in  the  culti- 
vation of  man's  capabilities,  by  an  effort  in  one  di- 
rection, and  total  neglect  in  another,  a  counteracting 
force  is  created,  and  the  opposite  force  is  just  as 
liable  to  become  the  controlling  power  of  the  being 
as  the  one  which  is  correct,  and  hence  such  educa- 
tion is  really  worse  than  no  education,  and,  no  doubt, 
is  a  great  source  of  crime. 

To  revert  to  the  working  classes,  and  further  in- 
quire into  their  conditions  and  well-being,  if  possible, 
to  fully  understand  the  real  causes  of  crime,  I  will 
say  that  I  am  strongly  in  favor  of  the 

EIGHT   HOUR  SYSTEM, 

which,  if  rightly  understood,  and  diligently  applied, 
will  doubtless  much  improve  the  physical  condition 
of  the  laboring  man  ;  and  I  can  not  see  that  capital, 
which  employs  labor,  is  not  also  much  the  gainer 
thereby.  On  the  principle  that  "  an  ounce  of  pre- 
vention is  better  than  a  pound  of  cure,"  we  claim 
that  it  is  much  cheaper  to  prevent  crime  than  it  is  to 
maintain  courts,  jails,  prisons  and  poor-houses.  This 
being  the  case,  it  would  seem  quite  reasonable  that  a 
universal  effort  should  be  made,  for  it  is  quite  easy 
to  establish  the  fact  that  too  much  occupation  pre- 
disposes to  physical,  moral,  and  intellectual  depravity 
Let  a  universal  decree  go  forth  that  every  working 
man  cease  his  labor  at  five  P.  M.,  and  every  store, 


8O  MURDER    AND    CRIME. 

shop,  or  other  place  of  business,  be  closed  at  seven 
P.  M.,  and  I  affirm  that  the  present  condition  of  all 
classes  will  be  vastly  improved ;  and  where  we  now 
have  loafers,  vagabonds,  and  criminals,  respectable 
men  and  women  will  take  their  places.  All  classes 
will  then  get  through  with  their  work  during  the  day, 
—do  their  shopping,  buying,  and  selling, — so  that  the 
evening  may  be  spent  in  rest,  amusement,  music, 
social  enjoyment,  and  mental  recreation,  which  should 
always,  however,  have  for  its  object  progress  and 
improvment  in  divine  humanity.  As  it  is  now,  men 
keep  open  their  stores,  shops,  and  places  of  business, 
most  generally  until  late  hours  of  the  night,  attract- 
ing around  their  counters  a  certain  class,  with  a  hope 
of  making  a  "  few  cents  more."  Go  into  any  of  our 
towns,  and  announce  a  lecture  on  physiology,  and  at 
eight  o'clock  P.  M.,  you  will  find  the  majority  of  peo- 
ple shopping  or  loitering  about  in  their  usual  places 
of  resort — saloons,  stores,  etc.  These  places  hatch 
out  a  majority  of  our  criminals.  The  lecturer  will 
have  a  few  of  the  righteous  ones  who  "require  not 
salvation."  By  too  much  occupation,  and  not  a  proper 
division  of  our  time,  manifold  evils  follow  as  a  nat- 
ural consequence.  Eight  hours  of  well  applied 
industry  will  insure  to  every  person  -a  vine-clad 
home  and  a  pleasant  little  spot  of  ground,  and  we 
are  safe  in  saying  also  a  competency  to  leave  for 
those  dependent  on  them  to  enjoy.  Eight  hours  for 
our  daily  vocation,  eight  hours  for  rest  and  mental 
improvement,  and  eight  hours  for  sleep.  This  seems 
to  be  the  most  natural  division  of  time  that  we  can 
have,  unless  our  object  is  to  work  men  and  women 


THE    WORKING    MAN.  8 1 

like  beasts  of  burden,  and  traffic  with  the  life  and 
souls  of  men.  Who  will  take  the  lead  in  this  great 
work?  Of  course  some  one  must  make  an  effort. 
The  good  people  in  every  community  should  call  a 
convention,  and  hold  adjourned  meetings  once  every 
week,  until  the  necessary  laws  can  be  passed,  estab- 
lishing the  eight-hour  system,  closing  every  shop, 
saloon,  store,  or  other  place  of  business,  at  six,  or  at 
least  at  seven,  P.  M. 

Consider  the  construction  of  public  halls  for  lec- 
turing and  other  educational  purposes.  Let  society 
change  its  tactics,  and  let  every  body  co-operate  in 
the  accumulation  of  bodily  health,  brain  capital, 
moral  and  social  worth,  rather  than  to  accumulate 
mere  earthly  wealth,  which  is  any  day  liable  to  "  take 
to  itself  wings  and  fly  away." 

For  the  present,  our  churches,  and  county  court- 
house, and  school-house  may  be  occupied  one  night 
each  week,  at  least  until  appropriations  can  be  made, 
and  provisions  for  the  great  work  of  prevention  of 
crime  in  reality,  by  the  proper  education  of  a  class 
of  people  who  are  woefully  neglected,  and  who  fur- 
nish the  majority  of  our  criminals.  Moral  suasion, 
it  may  be  argued,  is  all  that  is  necessary.  We  be- 
lieve in  moral  suasion,  but 

LEGAL    PERSUASION 

is  the  only  hope,  in  controlling  those  whose  moral 
faculties  are  almost  entirely  dormant.  The  man  or 
woman  who  can  not  see  the  right,  and  will  not  obey 
the  right,  when  it  is  made  self-evident  to  every  reas- 

6 


82  MURDER    AND    CRIME. 

oning  mind,  it  is  necessary  to  control  by  legal  per- 
suasion. We  spoke  as  follows,  in  a  lecture  in  Ohio, 
a  few  years  since,  though  our  remarks  were  directed 
merely  in  a  temperance  point  of  view ;  still,  what 
was  said  is  applicable  to  all  conditions  which  we  hope, 
to  reform,  mentioned  in  this  chapter. 

The  question,  "  How  may  the  temperance  cause 
be  successful  ?"  is,  no  doubt,  interesting  to  every  tem- 
perance man  and  woman.  It  has  been  the  theme  for 
many  years.  Various  plans  have  been  adopted  ;  and 
in  course  of  time,  each,  in  turn,  has  done  some  good. 
The  success  was  in  proportion  as  these  plans,  or 
temperance  institutions,  were  based  upon  natural  and 
fundamental  principles.  For  any  institution  or  or- 
ganization having  man's  higher  development  for  its 
object,  grounded  upon  these  principles,  must  and  will 
finally  succeed.  A  truth  can  never  be  annihilated ; 
it  may  be  retarded  in  its  progress  for  a  time,  but 
finally  it  will  rule.  Truth,  like  the  fixed  laws  of 
nature,  is  an  emanation  from  God,  and,  like  himself, 
is  all-powerful.  Man  in  his  undeveloped  state  is  not 
prepared  to  recognize  it ;  yet  by  sad  experience  and 
careful  research  he  is  often  brought  to  light,  and  oh  ! 
how  bright  and  beautiful. 

The  first  work  that  occupied  the  attention  of  edu- 
cated men  in  the  temperance  cause  was  to  ascertain 
how  spirituous  liquor  affects  the  human  system. 
These  investigations  were  suggested,  in  the  first 
place,  by  the  manifest  results  it  produced  upon  those 
who  drank  it.  It  was  evident  that  those  who  imbibed 
this  "  fiery  liquid  "  were  soon  disqualified  to  attend  to 
their  daily  avocations,  or  the  ordinary  duties  of  life ; 


THE    WORKING    MAN.  83 

and  that  many  of  the  evils  that  afflicted  mankind 
were  the  result  of  intoxicating  drinks,  even  capable 
of  producing  death, 

At  first  it  was  thought  that  a  moderate  use  of  it 
would  be  healthful ;  but  even  this  was  found  to  be 
incorrect.  By  experiments  made  on  animals  and 
men,  it  is  now  an  established  truth  that  alcohol  abso- 
lutely acts  as  a  poison  on  the  tissues  of  both  man 
and  animals.  In  view  of  these  facts,  philosophic 
minds  soon  began  to  advocate  the  total  abstinence 
of  the  use  of  so  deadly  a  drink,  as  a  beverage,  and 
in  a  very  short  time  became  quite  a  power,  in  per- 
suading many  of  the  best  minds  of  the  country  to 
advocate  the  total  abolition  of  this  huge  monster 
from  among  us. 

Various  plans  were  suggested,  from  time  to  time^ 
and  all  in  turn  have,  thus  far,  'been  unsuccessful. 
And  why?  Moral  persuasion  has  ever  been  perse- 
vered in,  and  all  that  has  been  accomplished,  includ- 
ing the  work  of  the  temperance  orders,  is  simply 
establishing  a  line  of  demarkation  between  the  man 
that  drinks  and  he  that  is  strictly  sober  and  temper- 
ate. There  is  no  more  association  with  each  other. 
This  is  an  important  point  attained.  In  this  we 
boldly  recognize  the  foe  to  human  improvement,  and 
know  where  to  find  him. 

Now,  notwithstanding  the  general  diffusion  of 
scientific  knowledge,  on  the  deleterious  effect  of 
whisky  on  the  human  system,  and  the  positive  dem- 
onstration to  our  senses  every  day,  we  find  that  it  is 
distilled,  bought,  sold,  and  drank,  delivering  up  its 
thousands  annually  to  delirium  tremens  and  death. 


84  MURDER   AND    CRIME. 

No  one  can  consistently  plead  ignorance  at  this  stage 
of  human  progress ;  therefore,  it  may  be  considered 
a  willful  and  malicious  violation  of  the  laws  of 
nature  and  the  laws  of  humanity,  sinning  against 
light  and  knowledge.  I  believe  that  no  man  has  a 
moral  right,  and  should  not  have  a  legal  right,  to  con- 
sign himself  under  the  influence  of  any  force  that  may, 
for  a  time,  cause  him  to  forget  his  moral  obligation 
to  his  fellow-man,  and  to  assist  him  to  carry  out 
some  fiendish  end,  thus  disgracing  humanity. 

In  the  hope  of  success,  I  recognize  at  this  stage  of  the 
temperance  work,  first,  rigid  and  thorough  legal  action. 
This  will  hold  the  rum-traffic  and  the  drunkard  in 
check,  while  general  diffusion  of  scientific  knowledge 
will  so  prepare  the  future  man  that  he  will  be  a  law 
unto  himself.  But  some  one  will  say,  "  This  has  been 
tried  and  failed."  Yes,  and  always  will,  so  long  as 
we  aim  only  to  regulate  the  excessive  use  of  it.  If 
we 'would  dry  up  a  stream,  we  must  stop  the  fountain. 
Hence,  the  only  hope  is  to  regulate  by  law  the  indis- 
criminate distillation  of  rum.  Place  it  wholly  under 
the  control  of  properly-qualified  physicians,  the  same 
as  other  poisons  and  medicines.  A  rigid  license  law, 
as  in  some  states,  might  be  useful.  But  this  would 
be  simply  palliating ;  the  disease  would  still  exist. 

Shall  we  compromise  longer  with  vice  ?  or  shall 
we  advocate  true  principles,  and  stand  aloof  from 
every  contaminating  influence  of  the  low,  undevel- 
oped brute,  man, who  will  not  hear  the  truth?  Is  it 
not  more  noble  to  prevent  the  commission  of  crime 
than  to  punish  the  perpetrators  after  the  hideous 
deed  has  been  consummated?  Is  it  not  reasonable 


THE    WORKING    MAX.  85 

that  a  thing  capable  of  doing  so  much  mischief  in 
the  land  should  be  made  a  subject  of  positive  legis- 
lation, or  even  a  topic  as  a  political  issue?  Do  we 
not  often  spring  issues  of  much  less  consequence  ?  I 
apprehend  that  the  question  of  abolishing  negro 
slavery  in  this  country  was  of  no  greater  importance 
than  the  question  before  us  now ;  for  it  underlies  all 
evil,  or  all  reformation. 

However, before  legislation  can  be  enforced,  the  pub- 
lic mind  must  be  educated  up  to  the  proper  point.  And 
here  I  recognize  the  second  most  important  thing  to 
be  done,  which  is,  if  we  would  be  successful  in  educa- 
ting the  masses,  to  organize  our  forces.  The  time 
for  pleasing  temperance  orations,  music,  and  young 
men  and  ladies  flirting  with  each  other  in  lodges,  has 
gone  by.  Action  is  what  the  true  temperance  public 
wants,  and  the  whisky  ring  is  looking  for  it.  They 
are  getting  a  good  ready,  for  they  know  that  their 
days  are  short ;  and  nothing  deters  them  more  than 
a  thorough  organization. 

United  effort  is  sure  of  success,  and  to  educate  the 
public  mind  up  to  this  standard  —  which  implies 
action — I  would  suggest  the  organization  of  the  fol- 
lowing associations,  in  addition  to  the  present  church 
and  temperance  organizations : 

First,  a  "  Young  Meris  Physiological  Association " 
should  be  organized  in  every  city,  town,  or  precinct, 
where  all  sorts  of  subjects,  pertaining  to  health, 
sobriety,  and  consequent  happiness  are  debated  and 
taught.  These  should  meet  once  a  week,  and  every 
young  man  should  belong  to  it.  In  these  associations 
physicians  should  make  themselves  useful. 


86  MURDER    AND    CRIME. 

Our  women  should  be  thoroughly  organized  into 
"  Women's  Health  Reform  Associations?  where  all 
subjects  pertaining  to  their  development  could  be 
taught  and  debated,  and  in  a  very  short  time  she 
would  have  all  the  rights  that  her  mission  in  life  de- 
mands. Here,  again,  physicians  should  take  an  active 
part ;  then,  instead  of  prescribing  a  few  powders  for 
the  sick,  the  more  noble  part  of  the  profession  would 
be  brought  into  use ;  that  is,  of  being  health-educa- 
tors, thus  preventing  sickness,  suffering,  and  often 
premature  death. 

Then,  "  Children's  Plealth  and  Temperance  Lyce- 
ums" should  be  established  all  over  our  great  coun- 

o 

try,  and  in  ten  years  thirty  millions  of  new  voices 
will  speak  in  thunder  tones.  The  drunkard,  the  rum- 
seller,  the  distiller,  will  not  object  to  their  children 
being  educated  "  in  the  way  they  should  go."  Every 
child  six  years  old  should  be  induced  to  attend  a 
lyceum  once  a  week.  Each  lyceum  should  be  known 
by  some  motto,  inscribed  upon  a  banner;  then  its 
little  members  should  be  divided  into  groups,  each 
having  its  little  banner  and  motto,  or  name,  and  each 
child  be  furnished  with  a  little  flag  inscribed  with  an 
appropriate  motto.  This  work,  I  believe,  should  be 
conducted  by  the  ladies.  Every  young  lady  should 
have  charge  of  one  of  these  little  groups.  Let  us 
give  the  ladies  something  to  do,  and  I  believe  they 
will  work. 


ON    ACCIDENTAL    CRIME.  87' 

CHAPTER  VII. 

ON    ACCIDENTAL    CRIME. 

The  various  causes  of  crime  and  murder  which  we 
have  noticed  in  other  chapters,  are,  as  we  have  also 
stated,  of  two  kinds,  and  of  different  origin,  the  one 
originating  in  a  hereditary  predisposition,  and  the 
other  in  an  acquired  condition,  which  predisposes  to 
crime.  Sufficient  explanation  has  been  given,  and 
the  facts  successfully  established,  to  enable  us  to  in- 
troduce a  third  kind  of  crime,  the  origin  of  which  is 
purely  accidental.  Crime  is  divided  by  some  into 
voluntary  and  involuntary.  Those  who  have  by 
creation  a  natural  and  irresistible  impulse  to  commit 
crime,  it  is  claimed,  do  so  involuntarily^  and  those 
who  have  acquired  a  disposition,  commit  a  voluntary 
crime.  The  last  statement  is  not  true,  for  both  the 
acquired  and  the  hereditary  condition,  is  forced  on 
the  individual,  as  we  have  shown,  and  hence  all  ac- 
tions are  involuntary.  Since  the  first  condition,  which 
is  the  actuating  power,  is  not  assumed  by  any  volun- 
tary act  of  theirs,  it  cannot  be  reasonably  argued 
that  the  results  or  actions  are  voluntary.  Again,  no 
person  of  a  sound  mind,  highly  developed  perceptive 
and  reflective  powers,  well  educated,  with  good  habits, 
good  associations,  and  a  harmonious  physical  and 
mental  organization,  can  ever  commit  crime.  Doubt- 
less a  certain  degree  of  depravity  is  necessary  for 
any  one  to  lie,  steal,  and  murder.  Now,  if  a  de- 


88  MURDER    AND    CRIME. 

praved  condition  is  necessary  to  perpetrate  crime, 
can  you  consistently  claim  and  prove  your  position, 
—that  people  voluntarily  take  upon  themselves  phy- 
sical, moral,  intellectual,  and  social  depravity,  in 
order  that  they  are  enabled  to  carry  out  wicked  de- 
signs ?  No  one  would  voluntarily  assume  the  life  of 
a  drunkard,  and  none  ever  do,  for  all  such  conditions 
gradually  grow  and  overpower  men  before  they  are 
aware. 

If  it  is  true  that  the  good,  the  wise,  the  religious, 
and  those  that  are  pure  in  heart,  never  commit  crimes 
such  as  lying,  stealing,  murdering,  etc.,  then  it  will- 
follow  that  such  deeds  are  never  the  result  of  wis- 
dom, reason,  pure  motives,  and  due  consideration  of 
consequences,  or  the  fruit  of  knowledge  and  a  refined 
intellectual  organization.  If  crime  could  be  the  re- 
sult of  wisdom  and  purity  of  heart,  then  we  might 
call  such  a  deed  a  voluntary  act ;  but  so  long  as  it 
cannot  be  proven  from  either  Divine  revelation, 
science,  or  nature,  that  man  ever  performs  a  volun- 
tary act  of  life,  we  are  not  willing  to  admit  that  it  is 
possible  for  a  man  to  commit  a  voluntary  crime  or 
murder.  For  any  person  to  perpetrate  a  willful 
crime,  more  than  ordinary  depravity  is  required,  and 
depravity  is  generally  the  result  of  ignorance,  neg- 
lected culture,  and  unfavorable  surroundings  of  the 
young,  and  persons  even  in  after  life  m^y  acquire 
such  conditions. 

We  do  not  believe,  then,  in  voluntary  crime,  and 
so  long  as  science  will  sustain  this  idea,  we  do  not 
hesitate  to  assert  it. 

We  therefore  class  all  such  as  hitherto  were  thought 


ON    ACCIDENTAL    CRIME.  .  89 

to  be  voluntary  crimes  with  those  which  we  denomi- 
nate accidental. 

We  have,  then,  only  involuntary  and  accidental 
crime  to  deal  with.  The  reader  here  may  propound 
the  question,  if  all  crime  is  only  involuntary  and  ac- 
cidental, then,  who  is  responsible  ?  and  how  can  we 
hold  any  one  accountable  for  their  wrong  deeds?  In 
answer,  we  say,  that  for  the  very  reason  that  such  a 
force  exists,  which  in  an  involuntary  manner  causes 
men  to  commit  hideous  crimes,  are  they  accountable, 
and  subjects  of  legislation,  in  order  to  restrain  all 
such  conditions  or  dispositions  until  the  difficulty  is 
entirely  overcome. 

No  one  need  ever  fear  those  who  have  no  involun- 
tary feeling  in  the  direction  of  committing  crime  ; 
but  it  is  this  involuntary  power  which  has  insinuated 
itself  into  the  human  family,  that  is  so  very  difficult 
to  counteract  by  law  and  punishment. 

We  have  conclusively  argued  the  question,  and 
have  shown  that  man  is  governed  by  law  the  same 
as  other  things  in  nature  ;  and  that  he  is  not  strictly 
free  to  act,  in  any  sense,  is  especially  evident  when 
we  consider  the  circumstances  and  forces  which  act 
upon  him  from  every  direction,  in  every  stage  of  life, 
—the  time. and  manner  of  his  advent  on  earth,  and 
his  exit  from  this  mundane  sphere  of  existence. 

We  will  now  consider  what  we  understand  by  an 
accidental  crime.  This  is  an  event  without  one's 
foresight  or  expectation  ;  an  event  that  proceeds  from 
an  unknown  cause,  or  an  unusual  effect  of  a  known 
cause,  and  therefore  not  expected  ;  a  crime  committed 
without  an  efficient  intelligent  cause  and  without 


90  MURDER   AND    CRIME. 

design.  The  inquiry  may  rise,  can  such  a  crime  ever 
be  perpetrated  ?  It  is  quite  possible  that  such  crimes 
can  be  committed.  They  are  occurring  every  day. 

A  crime  committed  during  a  temporary  fit  of  in- 
sanity is  an  accidental  one,  and  many  persons  are 
liable.  A  gentleman  of  first  respectability,  in  New 
York,  a  few  years  ago,  after  the  day's  work  in  the 
office,  while  splitting  some  kindlings,  that  his  wife 
might  start  a  fire  and  cook  him  some  supper,  imagined 
that  he  saw  a  monstrous  fiend  approaching  him,  and 
to  fight  for  his  life,  he  thought,  was  the  only  alterna- 
tive. It  was  his  wife,  who  had  come  to  the  wood- 
shed after  the  wood.  She  was  killed  outright  by  her 
husband,  who  ran  to  the  house,  to  tell  his  wife  of  the 
terrible  fight  he  had  had,  but  could  not  find  her. 
After  a  few  minutes  he  recovered  his  sanity,  and  it 
almost  made  him  permanently  insane  to  learn  that  it 
was  his  own  wife  he  had  killed,  instead  of  the  horri- 
ble monster  which  he  imagined  he  saw.  It  was 

o 

proven  that  they  lived  happy  together,  and  never  had 
a  quarrel,  which  fact  cannot  but  lead  one  to  believe 
his  statement.  He  was  also  a  man  of  fine  intellect 
and  culture,  and  religious  in  hisevery-day  life.  This 
murder  was  accidental. 

A  few  days  after  the  battle  of  Perryville,  while 
dressing  the  wounded,  in  a  field  hospital,  we  were 
summoned  immediately  to  call  and  see  a  man  who, 
it  was  reported,  had  been  killed  by  the  cook  in  one 
of  the  mess  tents,  in  the  other  end  of  the  catnp. 
When  we  arrived,  the  man  was  quite  dead.  The 
cook  stated  that  the  man  kept  "tormenting  him"  by 
disturbing  the  fire,  and  snatching  little  pieces  of 


ON    ACCIDENTAL    CRIME.  9! 

meat  from  the  kettle, — all  in  sport,  however.  The 
cook  commanded  him  to  cease,  or  he  should  "  slap 
his  mouth  for  him,"  which  he  did,  with  the  palm  of 
his  hand,  on  the  side  of  the  face.  The  man  fell  dead 
as  though  he  had  been  shot.  This  statement  was 

o 

proven  to  be  correct.  The  cook  was  a  powerful 
man,  and  it  was  thought  that  he  dislocated  the  man's 
neck;  but  a  post  mortem  examination  revealed  no 
evidence  of  any  internal  derangement,  and  hence  we 
decided  that  the  man  died  from  a  nervous  shock, 
produced  accidentally  on  the  part  of  the  cook.  This 
was  purely  an  accidental  murder.  The  railroad  com- 
pany at  Dayton,  Ohio,  three  years  ago,  were  repeated- 
ly informed  by  a  competent  engineer  that  their  steam 
boiler  was  dangerous,  and  further  use  would  jeopar- 
dize many  lives ;  but  they  gave  the  matter  no  atten- 
tion. The  boiler  exploded,  and  killed  eight  or  ten 
men,  and  wounded  some  twenty  others.  This  was 
an  accidental  crime,  though  brought  about  by  neglect 
on  the  part  of  the  officers  of  the  company.  Still  we 
class  it  among  the  accidental  crimes.  They  reasoned 
thus  :  "The  boiler  has  lasted  so  long,  and  will,  per- 
haps, last  a  few  days  longer,  when  it  will  be  tim'e 
enough  to  have  the  matter  investigated."  In  the 
meantime,  it  exploded. 

A  train  of  cars  is  thrown  from  the  track  by  reason 
of  a  broken  rail,  or  a  defective  tie,  and  a  number  of 
lives  are  lost,  which  is  all  strictly  accidental ;  yet,  we 
hold  it  is  criminal,  for  had  the  road  been  properly 
inspected  and  put  in  order,  the  accident  would,  in  all 
probability,  never  have  occurred.  This  is  also  mainly 
the  result  of  a  strong  propensity  on  the  part  of  the 


92  MURDER   AND    CRIME. 

company  to  make  money  ;  hence  they  avoid  all  possi- 
ble repairs  of  their  road  until  it  is  too  late.  After  a 
terrible  accident  has  taken  place,  they  repair  their 
road,  on  the  principle  that  after  the  thief  has  stolen 
your  horse,  you  lock  your  stable.  The  crime  con- 
sists in  want  of  vigilance,  and  is  attributable  to  men 
not  doing  their  whole  duty.  A  child  is  allowed  to 
play  near  a  stand  on  which  is  burning  an  oil  lamp. 
By  accident  the  child  upsets  the  stand.  The  lamp 
explodes,  and,  ten  chances  to  one,  the  child  is  burnt 
to  death,  arid  the  house,  and,  perhaps,  a  whole  block 
of  buildings  burned.  The  crime  is  accidental.  The 
mother  did  not  think  her  child  would  upset  the  stand. 
A  thoughtless  act,  and  hence  a  crime.  A  man  in 
Adams  County,  Ohio,  heard  a  number  of  boys  in  his 
peach  orchard,  stealing  peaches.  He  thought  he 
would  only  scare  them  a  little  by  firing  his  gun 
through  the  bushes ;  but  in  so  doing  he  killed  one  of 
the  boys.  He  did  not  mean  to  kill  the  boy ;  yet, 
from  want  of  forethought,  he  became  guilty  of  a 
crime, — yes,  a  murder,  the  most  horrible  of  crimes  — 
for  which,  though  accidental,  he  should  be  held  ac- 
countable, for  we  cannot  allow  an  exchange  of  life 
for  a  peach. 

This  man,  it  was  believed,  had  no  intention  to 
murder  this  boy,  still  he  made  use  of  very  dangerous 
means  to  scare  the  boys.  He  might  have  caused  a 
rushing  noise  through  the  bushes,  called  to  John, 
"  Go  around  on  the  right,"  and  to  James,  "  Go  on  the 
left;  let  us  surround  them,"  at  the  same  time  calling 
his  dogs,  etc,  and  the  boys  would  have  left  in  haste. 
Or,  what  was  better,  if  he  had  called  the  boys  to  him 


ON    ACCIDENTAL    CRIME.  93 

and  given  them  what  peaches  they  could  eat,  he 
would  have  taught  them  a  moral  lesson  and  perhaps 
cured  them  of  stealing  peaches  ever  after. 

We  might  cite  hundreds  of  instances  of  accidental 
crime,  murder,  etc.,  occurring  every  day  in  all  parts 
of  the  country.  We  believe  in  punishing,  in  a  proper 
manner,  all  such  crimes.  The  kind  and  degree  of 
the  crime  to  be  ascertained  by  the  actuating  motives, 
and  the  means  at  hand  by  which  such  a  crime  might 
have  been  avoided ;  that  is,  such  as  forethought,  and 
the  means  which  science  and  experience  have  taught 
men  by  which  to  prevent  calamities,  accidents  and 
crime. 

The  high  premium  which  is  paid  by  our  nation  for 
condensation  of  various  sensational  vibrations,  high- 
wrought  brain  action,  and  velocity  of  motion,  at 
whatever  the  risk  or  cost,  destroying  the  very  soul 
of  our  civilization,  is  a  danger  overshadowing  the 
general  mind  and  heart  of  the 

PRESENT  ERA. 

The  general  interrogation  is  in  a  half-breathless 
way:  What  do  you  know  ?  What  can  you  do  ? 
How  quick  can  you  do  it  ?  How  much  money  have 
you  ?  How  long  did  it  take  you  to  make  it  ?  etc. 

The  politician  first  responds  :  "  I  have  been  tried, 
as  it  were,  in  the  fire !  I  have  traveled  hundreds  of 
miles, and  can  bolt  my  meals  at  irregular  hours;  can 
travel  further  in  fewer  days  than  any  of  my  acquain- 
tance; write  hundreds  of  letters;  make  scores  of 
speeches ;  talk  more  hours  in  private ;  sleep  less ; 


94  MURDER    AND    CRIME. 

read  a  greater  number  of  books,  and  still  my  health 
is  in  a  good  condition,  my  mind  fresh  and  vigorous. 
It  does  not  injure  me.  No,  no,  I  know  how  much  I 
can  bear."  So  answers  the  moderate  drinker,  and 
before  he  is  aware,  he  is  a  diseased  man,  having 
gradually  acquired  a  mania  for  liquor,  and  he  dies  an 
accidental  death.  Was  guilty  of  crime. 

The  general  businessman  comes  forward  and  must 
be  heard,  claiming  that  "  he  can  do  a  little  more" 
than  any  other — build  more  houses,  get  the  most 
rent,  loan  the  most  money,  get  the  best  interest,  work 
the  greatest  number  of  men  in  the  shop,  is  up  early 
and  late,  sleeps  only  a  few  hours  out  of  twenty-four, 
bolts  his  meals  as  does  the  statesman,  at  irregular 
hours;  but  all  this,  he  thinks,  does  not  injure  his 
mind,  only  his  liver.  I  said  to  a  gentleman  of  forty, 
a  few  days  ago,  you  overtax  your  brain  ;  you  must 
sleep  more,  and  forget  your  business,  at  least  for  the 
space  of  ten  hours  out  of  twenty-four.  "  No,  Doc- 
tor," he  said, "  it  is  not  my  brain,  it  is — for  fifteen  per 
cent.  I  will  let  you  have — "  when  I  interrupted  him. 
Recovering  himself,  he  thought  "  it  was  his  kidneys. 
Doctor,"  he  continued,  "  can't  you  give  me  something 
that  will  straighten  me  up  for  a  few  days?  then  I 
will  come  and  take  a  regular  course  and  obey  your 
prescription,  but  just  now,  Doctor,  I  have  to  meet 
my  obligations  and  finish  that  block  ;  you  know  I 
am  not  one  that  will  allow  any  one  to  out-do  me  in 
business."  "  But,  sir,"  we  remarked,  "  your  brain  and 
mind  is  diseased,  and  it  will  require  some  considera- 
ble time  to  effect  a  cure;  and  suppose  you  should  die 
to-morrow — "  "Oh,  well,  Doctor,"  he  interrupted, 


ON    ACCIDENTAL    CRIME.  95 

"you  are  trying  to  frighten  me,  and  you  may  be  right, 
but  I  have  not  time  to  give  the  subject  much  atten- 
tion for  a  few  weeks."  Well,  well,  all  right,  take  this 
medicine,  and  call  again  in  three  days ;  you  will  be 
better  and  perhaps  be  able  to  finish  that  block  of 
buildings. 

In  November,  1872,  one  dreary  night,  we  were 
aroused  about  two  o'clock  in  the  morning,  by  the 
ringing  of  the  door-bell.  The  messenger  requested 
us  to  visit  a  man  at  one  of  our  fashionable  hotels. 
On  arriving,  we  were  directed  to  room  — ,  on  the 
fourth  floor.  Being  introduced  by  the  landlord,  as 
the  Doctor  sent  for,  our  patient  immediately  sprang 
to  his  feet,  and  presenting  a  huge  dirk  knife,  said  : 
"  Doctor,  had  it  not  been  for  this  dirk.  I  should  have 
been  killed  more  than  an  hour  ago."  I  asked  him  to 
let  me  examine  the  knife,  which  he  did.  I  then 
handed  it  to  the  landlord,  and  he  took  it  away.  I 
then  requested  the  patient  to  keep  quiet  while  I  felt 
his  pulse.  I  found  him  feverish  and  mentally  a 
wreck.  He  thought  himself  surrounded  by  demons 
who  sought  his  life,  and  hence  he  fought  desperately 
with  them  during  about  three  hours  of  the  night.  I 
gave  him  a  strong  anodyne,  and  remained  with  him 
about  an  hour,  when  he  fell  asleep.  The  next  morn- 
ing we  found  our  patient  somewhat  better,  but  still 
deranged.  We  now  recognized  in  him  the  same 
person  whom  we  had  previously  prescribed  for  at 
our  office,  and  who  had  been  for  a  month  very  much 
improved  by  our  prescription,  but  at  length  disobeyed 
our  advice,  and  continued  overtaxing  his  mind  for  a 
few  months,  until  we  now  find  him  almost  a  hopeless 


96  MURDER    AND    CRIME. 

maniac.  He  was  restored  in  about  three  months, 
but,  honestly,  we  do  not  believe  this  man  is  yet 
cured,  as  he  is  liable  at  any  time  to  meet  with  an  ac- 
cident and  commit  a  terrible  crime.  Such  persons 
require  from  one  to  three  years  of  the  very  best 
treatment  before  we  can  safely  say  that  they  are 
thoroughly  cured.  Some  never  recover.  He  was  a 
man  of  good  habits,  so  far  as  his  eating  and  drinking 
was  concerned,  but  in  regard  to  his  mental  labors,  he 
was  a  debauchee,  a  slave  to  an  unbalanced  condition 
of  the  faculty  of  acquisitiveness.  He  had  more  of 
this  world's  goods  than  any  one  individual  has  a 
moral  right  to  have. 

The  present  period  of  "  fast  living"  is  wonderfully 
affecting  all  classes,  and  men  and  women  in  every 
station  of  life  are  nursing  the  monster  that  will  im- 
pel the  steel  and  pierce  their  own  hearts.  The 
almighty  struggle  of  this  epoch  is  for  outward  wealth. 
The  maddening  spirit  of  the  age  is  "electricity." 
Man's  principle  of  intrinsic  goodness  has  been  con- 
verted into  the  fiery  prince  of  the  "  powers  of  the 
air."  Men  fancy  they  have  scientifically  caught  and 
commercially  harnessed  their  absolute  master.  And 
yet  he  cracks  his  whip  of  live  lighting  over  our  heads  ; 
he  teaches  and  insists  that  we  shall  do  everything 
with  lightning  speed  ! 

The  rebuilding  of  Chicago  is  a  fair  illustration  of 

o  o 

this  age  of  "electricity."  My  friend,  from  Boston, 
writes  :  "  Obediently,  we  race,  and  rush,  and  push, 
with  wild,  headlong  energy  into  everything  and  over 
everything  we  undertake  to  do,  or  conceive  a  fancy 
for  doing.  We  immediately  begin  to  overwork,  and 


ON    ACCIDENTAL    CRIME.  97 

overeat  and  overdrink,  and  overchew,  and  oversmoke, 
and  overlive,  and  at  last,  when  too  late,  we  discover 
ourselves  to  be  overdead  in  trespasses  and  sins." 

The  wickedest  demon  of  our  day  is  the  "  imp"  of 
impatience.  It  attacks  the  nerves,  the  brain,  and  in 
a  twinkling  of  an  eye  it  is  in  a  "  murderous  rage." 
The  blood  becomes  feverish,  the  heart  throbs  with 
excitement,  and  if  the  victim  does  not  thrust  a  dagger 
into  his  own  bosom,  he  may  into  that  of  his  neigh- 
bor, and  down  goes  his  subject,  covered  with  the 
mantel  of  "sudden  disease."  The  over-sensitive 
condition  of  the  brain  and  nervous  system  sends  the 
victim  to  an  asylum  for  the  insane.  So  \vonderfully 
subtile  is  this  force  which  gradually  undermines 
human  happiness,  that  before  we  are  aware,  we  are 
guilty  of  an  involuntary  or  accidental  crime.  Why 
is  it  that  those  who  are  drifting  in  the  direction  of 
the  city  of  destruction  will  not  heed  the  admonitions 
of  those  who  from  knowledge  and  experience  can 
give  proper  advice,  is  a  mystery  for  future  genera- 
tions to  reveal.  When  science  positively  teaches  a 
man  how  to  avoid  disease,  and  he  still  persists  in  his 
murderous  course,  we  sometimes  feel  discouraged, 
but  no  one  can  tell  what  an  amount  of  good  is  done 
every  day  by  the  many  efforts  that  are  put  forth  to 
reform  mankind ;  for  if  not  a  school,  church,  or  in- 
stitution which  has  for  its  object  the  improvement  of 
the  condition  of  the  human  family,  were  in  existence, 
then  crime  and  murder,  and  human  depravity  would 
soon  be  indescribably  great.  As  it  now  is,  our  daily 
papers  are  full  of  all  sorts  of  crimes,  suicides,  and 
murders,  committed  every  day,  in  all  parts  of  the 

7 


98  MURDER    AND    CRIME. 

country.  By  the  combined  effort  of  good  people, 
much  can  be  accomplished,  on  the  principle  that  "  by 
the  testimony  of  two  or  three  a  truth  shall  be  estab- 
lished." The  "  erring  ones,"  being  admonished,  and 
"  hailed,"  as  it  were,  by  those  on  the  right,  one  after 
another  will  be  added  to  the  testimony,  until,  by  and 
by,vthose  on  the  left  will  begin  to  heed  the  teaching 
of  the  good,  and  reform. 

We  will  suppose  a  captain  starts  from  Cincinnati 
upon  the  Ohio  river,  with  an  intention  to  go  to  Pitts- 
burgh. If  he  allows  his  boat  to  drift  down  with  the 
current,  he  would  go  further  and  further  from  his 
designed  destination.  Now,  We  will  further  suppose 
that  heaven  is  at  Pittsburgh,  and  the  "  city  of  destruc- 
tion" at  New  Orleans.  The  flag  upon  the  main-mast 
of  the  vessel  has  inscribed  upon  it  the  word"  Heaven," 
by  which  all  passers-by  may  know  whither  the  ship  is 
bound.  My  dear  reader,  every  human  being  that 
enters  upon  the  current  of  life  has  written  upon  his 
physiognomy,  Heaven,  by  which  all  may  know  whither 
he  is  bound.  The  ship,  however,  drifts  along  easily 
for  a  time,  until,  by  and  by,  it  is  observed  by  those 
watching  its  course  that  the  captain  is  sailing  in  the 
wrong  direction.  He  is  hailed.  "  Heigh-ho,  Cap- 
tain, whither  are  you  going  ?"  "  To  Heaven,  of 
course !  don't  you  see  by  the  flag  of  my  ship  whither 
I  am  going  ?"  "  But  you  are  on  the  wrong  road  ;  you 
are  on  the  way  to  destruction."  "  Don't  believe  it, 
for  I  am  gliding  along  so  easily."  A  little  further 
down,  and  another  "  heigh-ho"  comes  from  the  shore. 
The  captain  is  undisturbed,  and  he  drifts  a  little 
further  down  the  current  toward  the  city  of  destruc- 


ON    ACCIDENTAL    CRIME.  99 

tion.  He  is  now  more  frequently  hailed  by  the  good 
people  on  the  shore  of  safety,  who  are  rapidly  win- 
ning their  way  back; — they  may  have  started  further 
down  than  the  Captain  did,  but  are  moving  in  the 
right  direction. 

The  repeated  "  Heigh-ho,"  and  warning  of  danger 
signals  ahead,  now  arouses  the  captain  to  a  conviction 
that  perhaps  he  is  on  the  wrong  road,  and  he  begins 
to  throw  out  the  lead,  and  feel  about  him ;  but  be- 
hold he  is  already  among  the  breakers,  and  in  a  mist 
of  darkness.  He  is  now  in  great  trouble.  His  ship 
is  momentarily  in  danger  of  being  dashed  to  pieces ; 
life-boats  are  manned  and  sent  out  for  his  rescue, 
and  in  case  he  should  lose  entire  control  of  his  ship, 
they  are  ready  to  take  him  in,  and  if  possible,  save  not 
only  his  life,  but  the  lives  of  all  those  that  keep  him 
company.  The  captain,  however,  is  by  this  time 
fully  convinced  that  unless  something  is  done  he  and 
his  ship  will  be  destroyed.  If  he  now  makes  use  of 
the  proper  means  which  he  has  at  hand,  he  can  save 
himself  from  destruction.  He  has  a  compass,  a  pilot, 
a  rudder,  and  fuel  to  fire  up,  all  sufficient  to  create  a 
counterforce,  and  "stem  the  tide;"  he  will  by  econ- 
omy, and  care  in  the  use  of  the  small  store  of  supplies 
yet  left  him,  be  enabled  to  get  back  at  least  from 
whence  he  first  started.  In  this,  of  course,  he  will  be 
much  encouraged  by  the  good  people  that  are  going 
in  the  same  direction.  It  is  doubtless  true — at  least 
those  who  have  gone  in  that  direction  tell  us  so — 
that  as  we  approach  the  celestial  city — a  state  of 
heaven,  or  happiness — the  wind  is  more  favorable, 
the  climate  more  genial,  and^by  hoisting  occasionally 


IOO  MURDER    AND    CRIME. 

an  extra  sail,  our  progress  is  steady  and  sure.  Had 
the  captain  heeded  the  first  warning  as  to  the  "right 
road,"  he  would  not  have  spent  half  a  life-time  in 
experimenting  in  the  opposite  direction. 

The  majority  of  the  present  generation  are  down 
among  breakers.  First,  those  drifting  down  the  cur- 
rent of  "  fast  living,"  and  merely  enjoying  the  sensual, 
and  neglecting  the  use  of  natural  talents  with  which 
they  were  originally  gifted,  do  not  heed  the  admoni- 
tions of  those  on  the  shore,  who  are  daily  laboring 
to  instruct  the  stray  wanderers,  and  warn  them  of 
the  danger  ahead.  Secondly,  those  who  are  on  the 
shore  of  safety  do  not  call  out  loud  enough,  and  are 
-not  sufficiently  united  in  supporting  each  other  and 
in  making  a  common  effort  to  save  their  fellow  man. 


THE    ACTIONS    OF    HUMAN    BEINGS.  IOI 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

ON    THE    PRINCIPLES    WHICH     GOVERN    THE    ACTIONS    OF 
HUMAN    BEINGS. 

Action  is  requisite  to  a  state  of  existence ;  where 
there  is  no  action,  there  is  no  life.  Life  as  a  force  is 
the  result  of  a  combination  of  other  forces,  and  with- 
out a  correlative  action  of  all  the  forces,  it  is  not 
generated,  or  at  least  is  not  manifested. 

We  have  stated  in  another  chapter  that  life  oper- 
ates through  organization,  and  is  a  physical  force ; 
also  that  mind  operates  through  organization  the 
same  as  life,  and  is  also  a  physical  force.  Mind  is, 
therefore,  created  by  a  combination  of  various  forces 
the  same  as  life.  Now,  as  a  greater  number  of  forces 
are  requisite  to  produce  life  than  to  produce  light,  or 
any  of  the  single  forces  that  combine  and  create  life, 
so  a  greater  number  of  forces  are  requisite  to  create 
mind.  The  same  is  true  of  the  moral  nature  of  man. 
A  combination  of  faculties,  each  performing  a  certain 
function,  creating  a  moral  force,  and  each  faculty 
requiring  also  a  greater  number  of  forces  upon  which 
the  exercise  of  its  function  depends. 

To  bring  this  subject  more  fully  before  the  mind 
of  our  readers,  we  copy  a  brief  sketch  from  the 
author's  work  on  "The  Human  Five  Senses,"  page 

7-9- 

"  It  is  a  fact  that  life  is  a  force,  sustained  and  cre- 
ated by  other  forces,  and  is,  therefore,  an  activity 


IO2  MURDER    AND    CRIME. 

which  can  not  exist  independent  of  other  things. 
Our  surroundings,  the  objective  world,  the  elements, 
light,  heat,  atmosphere,  electricity,  magnetism,  etc., 
focalize,  stimulate  and  sustain,  or  even  create  this 
activity  which  we  call  life.  If  it  were  possible  to  place 
a  man  far  off  into  space,  where  the  objective  world 
could  not  act  upon  his  senses,  he  would  not  live  one 
moment — that  is,  this  life  activity  would  become  con- 
served, or  rendered  latent.  The  effect  would  be  the 
same,  if  there  were  nothing  for  the  eye  to  see,  the 
ear  to  hear ;  nothing  to  taste  or  smell,  or  come  in 
contact  with,  as  if  the  senses  of  the  body  were  de- 
stroyed by  disease  or  accident.  So  we  exist  simply 
because  other  things  exist.  It  is  not  by  bread  alone 
that  we  live :  it  is  by  contact. 

"The  same  is  true  of  the  mind.  No  one  has  ever 
originated  a  thought,  for  it  is  impossible  to  think  of 
anything  that  has  not,  or  never  had,  an  existence. 
The  objective  world  acts  upon  the  various  faculties 
of  the  mind,  through  the  medium  of  the  five  senses 
of  the  body,  and  thus  starts  us  to  thinking.  The 
internal  organs  of  the  body  are  acted  upon  in  like 
manner, — through  the  same  channels, — which  starts 
them  to  work  and  perform  their  functions.  The  eye 
gives  rise  to  thought  in  connection  with  what  we  see. 
We  think  of  sound,  and  study  its  nature,  in  propor- 
tion as  we  are  capable  of  being  impressed 'by  the 
different  waves  of  sound,  and  thus  we  gain  ideas. 
We  feel  by  coming  in  contact  with  things  that  sur- 
round us,  and  the  mind  is  thus  stimulated  into  a  state 
of  activity.  Through  taste  and  smell,  the  mind  be- 
comes conscious  of  odors  and  flavors,  and  we  think 
of  them. 


THE    ACTIONS.  OF    HUMAN    BEINGS.  103 

In  this   manner  all   nature   combines, 
To  form,  to  create  the  human  mind. 

"It  is  evident,  then,  that  the  more  perfect  these 
organs,  the  greater  will  be  our  means  of  communica- 
tion ;  and  the  more  we  see,  hear,  feel,  taste,  and 
smell,  the  greater  will  be  our  knowledge  of  things 
that  surround  us,  and  the  better  are  we  fitted  for  re- 
flection, to  contemplate,  to  philosophize,  to  reason, 
and  finally,  to  understand  the  many  mysteries  that 
are  now  hid  from  us  in  darkness.  So  long,  then,  as 
the  five  senses  are  in  harmony  with  our  relations,  we 
are  growing  intellectually  and  morally,  and  in  every 
way  are  capable  of  an  extensive  experience,  which  is 
God  and  nature's  own  method  of  unfolding  and  ma- 
turing the  human  mind.  Like  the  acorn  that  germ- 
inates and  grows  into  the  stately  oak,  under  the 
genial  influence  of  light,  heat,  moisture,  atmosphere, 
and  other  immediate  life-sustaining  forces,  so  the 
mind  unfolds  each  day,  each  moment,  during  the 
wakeful  time  of  the  being,  by  being  variously  acted 
upon  by  things,  circumstances,  and  conditions  from 
without." 

Each  separate  faculty  or  propensity  of  the  mind  is 
so  intricate  that  it  requires  years  of  study  to  cor- 
rectly understand  it, — how  to  cultivate  it ;  what  its 
true  relation  to  other  faculties  are,  and  the  relative 
function  in  the  mind,  all  of  which  together  aid  in 
producing  a  moral  character  in  men  and  women. 
Take,  for  example,  the  faculty  of  reason,  and  thou- 
sands of  circumstances,  agencies,  forces,  and  condi- 
tions are  required  to  stimulate  and  exercise  its 
function.  So  any  of  the  social  faculties,  or  those  of 


IO4  MURDER    AND    CRIME. 

a  selfish  nature.  For  example,  acquisitiveness,  the 
faculty  that  gives  man  a  desire  to  accumulate  prop- 
erty,— and  what  a  field  for  study ! — love,  hatred,  con- 
scientiousness, veneration,  caution,  and  other  faculties 
which  distinguish  men  from  brutes.  Then  consider 
those  which  have  a  closer  relation  to  animal  life, 
such  as  destructiveness,  combativeness,  and  others, 
each  of  which  is  dependent  upon  a  combination  ot 
many  forces  and  conditions  to  call  it  into  action. 
Each  separate  force  or  agency  which  enters  into  the 
whole,  in  producing  and  actuating  a  single  faculty, 
requires  a  careful  study,  in  order  to  understand  prop- 
erly the  faculty  as  a  whole.  When  we  take  this  course 
in  studying  the  mind,  there  is  some  probability  ot 
learning  something  about  it.  Now,  a  correlative  oper- 
ation of  all  these  forces  is  requisite  in  order  to  pro- 
duce a  heathy  action  of  the  constitution  of  the  mind, 
for  it  is  through  a  combined  effort  of  these  forces, 
acting  through  each  faculty  respectively  that  mind  is 
created,  also  a  moral,  intellectual,  and  social  character. 
The  highest  of  all  these  forces  is 

KNOWLEDGE. 

The  universe  thus  focalizes  and  creates  this  most 
powerful  force,  which  is  the  ultimatum  of  all  human 
experience,  cultivation,  and  development  of  both  the 
physical  and  mental  constitution.  It  is  this  that 
makes  man  happy  or  miserable.  It  brings  happiness 
to  know  the  wrong,  the  false,  and  the  imperfect  in 
ourselves,  also  in  our  surroundings,  for  by  having' 
such  knowledge  we  are  impelled  toward  the  right, 


THE    ACTIONS    OF    HUMAN    BEINGS.  IO5 

the  good,  the  perfect.  Having  knowledge  of  the 
truth,  the  beautiful,  the  good,  we  are  made  doubly 
happy,  positively  to  know  that  we  are  in  the  •  right. 
True,  knowledge  teaches  men  of  their  depravity, 
their  short-comings,  their  violations  of  the  laws  of 
God  and  nature,  the  wrongs  committed  toward  their 
fellows,  and  defines  strictly  criminal  actions,  which, 
when  men  see  their  fallen  condition,  are  miserable 
and  unhappy  so  long  as  they  know  that  such  is  the 
case. 

Mankind  never  are  absolutely  happy,  and  happy 
only  momentarily.  Neither  are  they  ever  absolutely 
miserable  and  are  only  so  for  a  short  space  of  time. 
T.he  mind  naturally  argues  itself  into  a  greater  state 
of  happiness,  or  a  lesser  degree  of  unhappiness  and 
suffering.  Men  naturally  flee  from  pain  and  sorrow. 
It  is  an  innate  principle  that  all  mankind  desire  to 
be  happy.  The  line  of  demarcation  between  the 
right  and  the  wrong,  the  beautiful,  and  the  good,  and 
the  evil,  and  imperfection  of  nature  or  the  actions  of 
man,  is  difficult  to  establish  for  all  mankind.  Each 
individual  draws  this  line  of  division  as  they  under- 
stand, and  are  enabled  from  their  knowledge  pre- 
viously acquired  as  to  the  real  and  the  true.  These, 
then,  are  only  relative  virtues,  and  conditions,  and 
each  moment  of  existence  establishes  its  own  condi- 
tion, state,  or  being,  which  makes  mankind  happy  or 
unhappy  as  the  nature  of  the  actuating  principles 
may  decide. 

To  acquire  knowledge,  and  attain  a  state  of  hap- 
piness is  the  primary  motive-power  of  all  human 
actions.  This  being  the  "  chief  end  of  man,"  we  may 


IO6  MURDER   AND    CRIME. 

consider  the  human  family  on  a  grand  march,  some 
in  the  front,  some  in  the  rear,  and  all  on  the  road  in 
search  after  the  promised  prize. 

Those  who  follow  horse-racing  understand  full 
well  that  the  horse  of  good  stock,  the  one  best 
groomed,  best  trained,  and  longest  in  practice,  will 
win  the  prize.  So  in  this  grand  human  march,  those 
of  good  parentage,  proper  education,  and  every-day 
practice  in  the  right  direction  will  take  the  advance, 
and  win  the  prize.  All  along  the  line  of  march  to- 
ward human  happiness  are  innumerable  by-ways, 
cross-roads,  which  have  greater  or  less  attractions, 
and  entrap. those  unaware  of  the  evil  results.  Many 
of  these  alluring  channels,  that  lead  in  the  wrong 
direction  are  so  intimately  blended  with  the  right 
path  at  first,  that  often  years  of  toil  are  spent  before 
the  deception  is  discovered.  These  roads  leading  so 
many  to  destruction,  so  gradually  diverge  from  the 
high  road  of  happiness,  that  even  the  wise  sometimes 
lose  themselves,  and  spend  half  a  lifetime  in  the 
wrong  direction. 

How  needful  it  is,  then,  that  every  individual  of 
this  generation,  who  has  acquired  knowledge  of  these 
places  of  danger,  should  erect  a  finger-board,  or 
build  a  wall,  as  it  were,  closing  up  these  places  which 
make  attacks  upon  and  ensnare  those  who  are  un- 
protected and  easily  persuaded.  Then  the  next  gen- 
eration passing  along  this  line  of  march  to  happiness 
will  have  much  less  opposition  to  contend  with,  and 
thus  we  may  bring  about  a  total  abolition  of  crime. 

Human  beings  are  so  differently  organized,  and  so 
many  different  conditions  exist,  that  in  this  grand 


THE    ACTIONS    OF    HUMAN    BEINGS.  IO7 

march  through  life,  we  are  variously  acted  upon,  and 
are  susceptible  to  the  influences  of  so  many  diverg- 
ing by-ways  that  we  have  scarcely  a  reasonable  hope 
of  ever  so  reforming  the  world  that  all  mankind  shall 
be  enabled  to  obey  the  injunction  that  comes  from 
on  high,  namely, "  do  unto  all  men  as  you  wish  them 
to  do  unto  you."  Yet  we  have  such  faith  in  God  and 
nature,  and  in  the  application  of  correct  principles 
and  strict  obedience  to  natural  laws,  that  such  an 
event  seems  possible.  The  various  allurements,  and 
enticing  means  which  are  so  profusely  distributed 
along  the 

STRAIGHT  ROAD 

to  happiness,  and  which  lead  men  from  the  path  of 
virtue  and  distinction,  may  be  divided  into  the  cor- 
poreal, moral,  intellectual  and  social.  Those  of  the 
corporeal  are  mainly  those  which  act  upon  the  bodily 
senses  ;  something  good  to  eat ;  something  pleasing 
to  the  eye,  ear,  and  the  feelings,  which,  if  not  rightly 
understood,  cause  great  bodily  disturbances.  Many 
labor  simply  to  please  the  sense  of  taste;  others, 
that  of  sight — to  dress  well,  to  be  fashionable,  etc.; 
and  so  the  bodily  constitution  may  become  diseased, 
and  years  of  time  be  spent  in  trying  to  correct  the 
difficulty. 

Through  the  same  channels,  the  moral  nature  is 
acted  upon  by  what  is  called  moral  action.  The 
principal  allurement  which  leads  men  astray  in  their 
moral  nature  is  wealth,  and  a  man  will  stretch  his 
conscience  as  far  as  he  thinks  it  is  policy — even  as 
far  as  his  neighbor.  The  farmer  will  open  the  best 


IOS  MURDER    AND    CRIME. 

bag  of  wheat  first  to  sell  his  grain.  The  merchant 
will  show  the  bright  side  of  his  goods, 'and  hide  all 
defects.  The  capitalist  will  use  his  best  argument  to 
prove  that  money  is  worth  fifteen  and  twenty  per 
cent.  So  it  is  in  nearly  every  channel  of  commercial 
intercourse  between  man  and  man ;  and  thus  men 
deal  with  eaclrother  as  though  all  were  rogues.  In 
this  manner  men  are  gradually  entrapped  into  selfish 
practices,  which,  of  course,  will  grow  much  faster  on 
some  than  on  others.  Those  who  have  by  nature  a 
strong  inclination  to  steal,  soon  become  dissatisfied 
with  the  lie  only,  and  now  begin  thieving.  Before 
they  get  back  into  the  right  path  again  many  commit 
a  murder.  Thus  man  becomes  morally  depraved, 
and  little  by  little,  unconsciously,  is  led  into  wrong 
habits.  By  and  by,  the  disease  becomes  chronic  and 
the  cure  will  be  very  slow.  Intellectual  allurements 
which  cause  perversion  and  misunderstandings,  are 
mainly  those  which  we  may  call  wit,  sharp  trading, 
and  using  every  intellectual  acquirement  in  a  selfish 
way,  to  learn  how  to  make  the  most  money,  and  be 
well  spoken  of  among  men  of  commercial  standing. 
Some  robbers  are  very  shrewd  men.  Most  people 
study  human  nature,  the  laws  of  their  country,  and 
even  the  sciences,  only  to  brighten  their  intellect,  to 
appear  brilliant  in  society,  and  to  be  well  qualified  to 
explore  every  avenue,  and  manipulate  those  with 
whom  they  deal  in  such  a  manner  as  to  make  the 
most  money,  and,  if  possible,  to  attain  wealth  and 
fame.  This  is  a  fruitful  source,  which  gradually  leads 
men  to  ruin.  The  perversion  of  man's  intellectual 
powers,  will  eventually  react  and  bring  sorrow  upon 
the  individual. 


THE    ACTIONS    OF    HUMAN    BEINGS.  IOQ 

Social  means  of  every  shade  are  continually  draw- 
ing men  and  women  into  the  pathway  of  error. 
Thousands  are  persuaded  by  the  many  promises  and 
plausible  arguments  brought  to  bear  upon  those  who 
have  been  more  or  less  disappointed  in  life.  Those 
who  do  not  consider  consequences  before  they  act, 
are  gradually  entrapped  and  carried  with  the  tide 
down  the  stream  of  vice.  Those  who  have  the  social 
organs  relatively  large  are  constantly  on  the  look-out 
for  some  golden  opportunity  when  their  most  san- 
guine anticipations  may  be  fully  realized.  Disap- 
pointments often  end  in  crime,  and  a  greater  number 
of  murders  are  perpetrated  by  reason  of  a  perverted 
social  nature  than  from  any  other  one  cause.  Men 
rob  and  murder  for  money  mainly,  some  may  hold, 
but  in  nearly  every  instance  the  mainspring  is  trace- 
able to  a  social  disappointment  of  so'me  kind, — not 
enough  money  to  appear  well  in  society,  to  attend 
theaters,  the  gambling  hall,  to  buy  the  social  glass  or 
otherwise  sustain  themselves  in  satisfying  the  social 
appetite.  Hence  they  often  rush  headlong  into  the 
various  channels  of  vice  and  evil,  thinking  sometime 
to  be  happy,  if  not  in  one  direction,  in  another,  and 
so  keep  trying  until  after  the  meridian  of  life  is 
passed ;  and  if  they  do  not  end  their  life  by  suicide, 
otherwise  die  disgraced  and  broken-hearted,  suc- 
cumbing to  the  destroying  forces  of  an  unhappy  life. 

To  recapitulate,  briefly,  we  end  the  first  part  of 
this  work,  by  reminding  the  reader  of  two  prominent 
facts  which  we  have  honestly  labored  to  establish  in 
the  previous  chapters.  The  first,  we  remark,  is  a 
hereditary  predisposition  to  crime,  and  the  second  an 


110  MURDER   AND    CRIME. 

acquired  disposition  which  gradually  lead  persons 
into  criminal  action,  and  we  are  justified  in  stating 
a  third  condition  which  we  denominate  accidental. 
We  have  conclusively  shown  that  parental  transmis- 
sion has  much  to  do  with  the  bodily  health,  the  moral, 
intellectual,  and  social  qualities  of  the  rising  genera- 
tion. Even  in  infancy,  early  traits  of  depravity  are 
often  observed,  as  well  as  good  traits  of  character. 
In  either  case,  the  actions  in  after  life  are  governed, 
to  a  great  degree,  by  the  peculiar  constitutional 
"  make  up,"  both  of  the  physical  and  mental.  One 
will  be  susceptible  to  culture  more  than  the  other; 
one  will  be  easily  impressed  in  the  direction  of  right, 
and  the  other  in  the  direction  of  wrong. 

Acquired  conditions  are  mainly  those  brought 
about  by  education,  habits,  surroundings,  associations 
and  necessity,  gradually  establishing  a  disposition 
and  inclination  which  become  finally  the  controlling 
power,  and  lead  the  being  to  a  state  of  happiness,  or 
sorrow  and  suffering,  according  as  the  various  educa- 
tional means  of  development  are  good  or  evil  in  their 
nature.  Accidental  crimes  are-  seemingly  unavoid- 
able, yet  when  we  come  closely  to  reason  on  the 
subject  we  shall  find  that  nearly  all  such  occurrences 
are  easily  avoided.  We  are  safe  in  stating  that 
nearly  every  accidental  crime  is  the  result  of  neglect, 
want  of  forethought,  and  a  lack  of  employment  of 
proper  means  to  prevent  such  accidents.  This  may 
be  through  malice,  ignorance  and  indolence. 

There  are  crimes  that  can  scarcely  be  named  or 
classified.  We  will  state  a  case,  and  then  allow  the 
reader  to  judge  as  to  what  sort  of  a  crime  he  consid- 


THE    ACTIONS    OF    HUMAN    BEINGS.  Ill 

ers  the  following  :  In  the  winter  of  1 864,  we  followed  a 
lady,  of  the  upper  class,  on  Third  street,  Cincinnati, 
mainly  to  learn  where  she  was  going,  where  she  lived, 
and  who  she  was,  all  only  to  gain  an  idea  of  course, 
for  we  were  almost  moved  to  tears  in  beholding  her 
little  six-year-old,  trotting  along  by  her  side,  going  to 
prayer-meeting,  with  its  little  legs  almost  entirely 
exposed  ;  its  panties  did  not  reach  quite  over  the 
knees — the  cotton  stockings  too  short,  so  that  every 
step  it  took  the  knees  and  the  greatest  portion  of  the 
thighs  became  entirely  exposed.  The  meantime  the 
mother  was  muffled  up  in  fur,  and  a  large  cloak  cov- 
ering her  extremities,  and  in  every  way  well  protected 
from  the  cold.  With  the  Bible  and  hymn  book  under 
her  arm,  she  entered  the  house  of  prayer,  and  for 
one  long  hour  and  a  half,  she  forced  her  dear  little 
pet  to  sit  on  a  bench,  with  its  little  legs  hanging  un- 
supported, until  at  length  it  was  relieved  of  its  suf- 
fering, only  to  freeze  on  its  way  home,  with  an  occa- 
sional murmur  of  "  Ma!  I'm  so  cold,"  shivering  in  the 
storm.  We  thought  it  was  high  time  that  somebody 
should  pray. 

We  have  thus  far  in  our  work  presented  many 
important  points  for  consideration  and  profound 
thought,  on  the  part  of  our  readers.  We  have  given 
our  idea  of  the  origin  and  immediate  stimulating, 
cause  of  crime,  and  we  believe  if  men  would  rise  to 
the  highest  enjoyment  of 

HUMAN  HAPPINESS, 

an  effort  must  be  made  to  learn  the  sciences,  and 
not  only  have  this  knowledge  vested  in  the  minds  of 


112  MURDER    AND    CRIME. 

a  "  favored  few,"  but  within  the  reach  of  the  masses. 
Harmonious  and  correlative  operation  of  all  the 
faculties  must  be  developed  in  every  individual,  in 
order  to  bring  about  harmony  in  society,  harmony  in 
the  family,  and  in  the  government. 

Modern  science  recognizes  one  fact,  that  the  law 

o 

of  the  globe,  arid  of  all  things  that  dwell  upon  it,  is 
the  law  of  progress.  Man  a  natural  being,  created, 
lives  and  moves  in  nature,  so  is  he  affected  by  the 
same  law,  hence  we  may  expect  to  unfold  and  to  go 
on  unfolding.  This  great  primal  law  is  as  true  to-day 
as  it  was  at  the  beginning  of  creation,  and  has  been 
operating  ever  since,  raising  the  world  higher  and 
higher,  and  doubtless  will  continue  to  carry  the  world 
onward  and  upward.  As  intelligent  human  beings,  how- 
ever, we  may  assist  nature  much  in  her  effort  to  pro- 
duce the  perfect  man  and  woman,  by  obeying  the  law 
of  physiology.  Wherever  this  law  is  strictly  obeyed, 
the  offspring  invariably  proves  to  be  healthy  and  har- 
monious. It  is  admitted  by  our  most  scientific  physi- 
ologists, that  the  child  inherits  the  peculiar  character 
and  constitution  of  its  parents,  and  if  the  education 
is  to  develop  that  peculiarity,  it  will  continue  and  be 
the  governing  principle  through  life.  Now,  it  would 
follow,  that  the  wisest  course  on  the  part  of  those 
who  intend  to  unite  in  marriage,  would  be  to  give 
this  matter  a  thought,  and  endeavor  to  understand 
the  law  that  governs  perfect  organization.  If  inclined 
to  disease,  consult  and  obey  every  principle  of 
hygiene,  give  yourself  a  thorough  overhauling,  and 
if  possible  consult  a  scientific  physiologist.  These 
are  vital  principles,  and  if  man  will  give  this  matter 


THE    ACTIONS    OF    HUMAN    BEINGS.  113 

as  much  attention  as  he  does  in  growing  horses, 
sheep,  cattle  and  pork,  he  will  rise  in  the  scale  of 
human  perfection,  the  same  as  the  animal  kingdom, 
for  by  proper  selection  steadily,  from  year  to  year, 
and  from  generation  to  generation,  the  beasts  of  the 
field  rise  and  become  more  perfect.  Rev.  H.  W. 
Beecher  says,  "  the  human  race  never  will  be  carried 
up  until  man  learns  that  there  is  a  law,  by  obedience 
to  which,  generations  shall  transmit  transmissible  ex- 
cellences." 

This  I  believe  to  be  true  in  a  physical  as  well  as 
a  spiritual  sense.  Behold  the  children  of  the  crude, 
undeveloped  parent,  and  no  wonder  that  rigid  legis- 
lation is  still  necessary  to  govern  men  and  nations, 
and  from  the  present  indications  the  next  generation 
will  be  but  slightly  improved,  hence,  the  most  noble 
work  that  we  can  engage  in  is  to  teach  and  learn  and 
try  to  understand  nature's  laws  in  this  respect.  From 
observation  and  scientific  research  we  gather  that 
nothing  is  surer  than  this :  that  a  tendency  in  any 
given  direction  is  transmissible  by  education.  "  A 
tendency  to  good  or  evil  is  transmitted  and  becomes 
a  fixed  quality  if  it  be  educated."  So  writes  a  mod- 
ern scientist,  and  as  facts  are  difficult  to  overcome, 
we  had  better  at  once  yield  the  question,  and  go  to 
work  and  better  the  condition  of  things  in  this  re- 
spect. Upon  the  principle  that  a  certain  muscle  may 
be  developed  by  giving  it  the  proper  exercise,  so  may 
we  develop  any  faculty  of  the  brain,  or  inner  man,  by 
giving  it  proper  exercise  or  rest.  If  a  man  has 
the  organ  of  combativeness  very  large  it  may  soon 
be  subdued  by  giving  it  rest,  and  exercising  the  oppo- 

8 


114  MURDER    AND    CRIME. 

site  principle,  that  of  love  and  peace,  and  soon  that 
individual  will  be  a  law  unto  himself,  and  the  next 
generation  will  have  less  of  combativeness.  The 
same  is  true  of  every  department  of  human  life.  Let 
the  world  practice  the  opposite  to  evil  and  man  will 
soon  become  constitutionally  redeemed  and  be  a  law 
unto  himself.  This  if  ever  accomplished  will  have  to 
be  done  on  scientific  principles.  Nature  is  ever  true 
to  right  action,  and  the  more  we  are  stimulated  to  act 
in  harmony  with  nature  the  faster  is  our  progress, 
hence,  the  necessity  of  teaching,  preaching,  lecturing, 
reading,  writing,  debating,  thinking,  reasoning,  criti- 
cising and  continuing  our  research  until  we  under- 
stand more  and  more  of  the  divine  laws,  and  thereby 
grow  more  and  more  beautiful,  more  good,  healthy 
and  happy ;  and  instead  of  the  sins  of  the  parents 
being  "visited  upon  the  children  of  the  third  and 
fourth  generations,"  the  good  deeds  and  right  actions 
are  transmitted  to  future  generations,  that  the  coming 
man  may  have  the  pleasure  of  journeying  along  the 
path  of  life,  decorated  with  flowers  and  evergreens, 
the  noble  and  the  beautiful. 


PART    II. 


CAPITAL  PUNISHMENT. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

HISTORY    AND    PROGRESS   OF   CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT. 

Since  the  earliest  record  of  human  history,  capital 
punishment  has  been  considered  by  nearly  all  nations, 
as  a  just  punishment  for  capital  crime.  The  practice 
of  punishing  crime  by  deatrrmay  be  traced  far  back 
in  human  history,  even  to  savage  nations  where  it  had 
its  origin.  According  to  Agassiz,  Darwin,  Hugh 
Miller,  Humbolt,  Spencer,  and  other  scientists  and 
naturalists,  capital  punishment  is  traceable  only  to 
heathen  origin.  It  seems  to  be  an  established  fact 
that  this  mode  of  punishment  was  not  first  suggested 
by  any  enlightened  person  or  nation.  It  is  a  practice 
merely  continued  as  a  relic  of  the  benighted  ages, 
the  same  as  some  forms  of  worship.  It  cannot  be 
successfully  established  that  it  was  ever-  a  command 
of  God.  The  only  command  that  was  ever  given  on 
the  subject,  was,  "  Thou  shalt  not  kill."  We  make 


Il6  CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT. 

this  statement  without  fear  of  contradiction,  from 
the  fact  that  heathens  punished  by  death  before  ever 
the  M.osaic  law  was  established.  Heathens  inflicted 
the  death  penalty  in  the  most  brutal  manner,  and  for 
mere  trivial  offences.  The  Pagan  nations  also  in- 
flicted death  in  a  very  barbarous  manner.  The  first 
mode  was  by  stoning  the  criminals  to  death.  The 
next  was  by  burning  them  to  death  ;  first  by  tying 
their  hands  and  feet,  and  then  throwing  them  into  a 
fire  prepared  for  the  occasion.  At  the  time  and  reign 
of  Nebuchadnezzar  an  oven  was  built  and  kept  heated, 
to  a  proper  heat,  and  constantly  in  readiness  for  the 
purpose  of  destroying  the  life  of  condemned  crimi- 
nals. We  read  that  three  young  men  Shadrach, 
Meshach,  and  Abednego,  were  condemned  to  death 
by  this  brutal  king;  and  the  oven  was  ordered  to  be 
heated  seven  times  hotter  than  for  ordinary  execu- 
tions. At  another  period  wild  beasts  were  kept  in 
dens  for  the  express  purpose  of  devouring  condemned 
criminals.  At  a  later  period  criminals  were  nailed 
on  a  cross  and  tortured  unto  death.  During  this 
period  of  the  history  of  capital  punishment  Christ 
was  executed  on  a  cross,  as  was  then  the  mode  of 
inflicting  the  death  penalty.  Afterward  death  was 
inflicted  by  beheading  the  criminal,  John  was  the  first 
who  was  beheaded  by  authority  of  the  rulers.  Dur- 
ing the  progress  of  the  early  ages  of  what  are  termed 
Pagan  nations,  or  of  the  children  of  Israel,  the  death 
penalty  was  often  inflicted  in  the  most  inhuman 
manner  and  for  mere  trivial  offences.  Adultery  was 
then  punishable  by  being  stoned  to  death,  and  at 
other  times  the  most  noted  criminals  were  dragged 


PROGRESS    OF    CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT.  117 

by  the  heels  through  the  streets  in  order  to  inflict 
the  greatest  possible  torture.  This  was  often  done 
in  the  belief  that  God  had  pleasure  in  criminals  being 
punished  in  the  most  brutal  manner.  Gentile  nations 
punished  their  criminals  still  more  inhumanly  than  did 
the  "  children  of  God."  Prisoners  of  war  were  also 
put  to  death  in  the  most  torturous  manner,  and  the 
rulers  and  people  often  took  great  delight  in  tortur- 
ing their  criminals  unto  death. 

Since  the  Christian  era,  various  modes  of  inflicting 
the  death  penalty  have  been  practiced.  Different 
kings  and  rulers  had  different  modes  of  inflicting 
death,  according  as  they  saw  proper.  Beheading  has 
been  the  common  mode  and  is  now  practiced  in  the 
old  country.  At  different  periods,  however,  criminals 
were  put  upon  the  rack  and  bones  broken,  one  after 
another,  until  dead.  Others  were  required  to  drink 
the  poison  hemlock,  or  confined  in  a  dark  dungeon 
and  starved  to  death. 

^During  the  remote  ages,  and  even  down  to  the 
present  day,  men  have  made  it  a  study  how  to  put 
criminals  to  death  in  the  most  expeditious  manner, 
rather  than  how  to  reform  mankind  and  make  them 
better.  During  the  present  era  it  has  been  the  object 
to  inflict  the  death  penalty  in  the  easiest  and  most 
painless  manner,  which  is,  no  doubt,  a  premonitory 
sign  of  abolishing  it  entirely.  In  this  country  the 
death  penalty  is  inflicted  by  hanging,  and  which  no 
doubt  is  the  most  painless  manner  of  killing  men, 
except  by  chloroform,  or  by  some  subtle,  narcotic 
poison.  But  a  few  years  ago  criminals  were  executed 
in  public ;  now  it  is  done  almost  everywhere  in  pri- 


IlS  CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT. 

vate,  which  is  another  sign  of  the  incoming  reform. 
The  one  great  truth  which  we  derive  from  the  history 
and  progress  of  capital  punishment  is,  that  the  man- 
ner of  inflicting  the  death  penalty  has  been,  from 
time  to  time,  greatly  modified.  The  death  penalty  is 
now  inflicted  by  civilized  nations  for  murder  and 
treason  only,  and  in  a  less  shocking  manner  than 
even  a  century  ago.  Less  than  fifty  years  ago,  men 
were  lashed  for  crime, — sometimes  until  the  flesh  was 
cleft  from  their  backs.  Men  were  caused  to  run  the 
gauntlet,  were  placed  in  stocks,  and  suffered  many 
other  most  inhuman  punishments,  which  often  were 
worse  than  death  itself;  as,  for  instance,  having  the 
eyes  put  out,  or  the  body  mained  in  some  other  man- 
ner, disabling  the  criminal  for  life.  This  was  often 
done  to  maintain  national  power  or  pride,  and  when 
no  real  crime  was  committed.  The  man  who  con- 
structed that  great  wonder,  the  clock  at  Strasburg, 
had  his  eyes  put  out  by  order  of  the  rulers,  lest  he 
should  go  into  other  countries  and  construct  a  similar 
clock,  or,  perhaps,  a  greatly  improved  one,  and  thus 
wound  the  national  pride.  Notwithstanding  the 
seventy  of  the  punishment  inflicted  for  crime,  during 
the  earlier  periods  of  human  history,  crime  was  then 
more  prevalent  than  now ;  for  as  nations  became 
more  enlightened,  crime  grew  proportionately  less  as 
well  as  the  severe  modes  of  punishment.  It  is  an 
admitted  truth  by  those  who  have  given  the  matter 
any  thought,  that  it  is  not  the  severity  of  punish- 
ment that  prevents  crime,  but  the  absolute  certainty. 
The  proper  education  of  the  moral,  intellectual,  and 
social  nature  of  man  is  the  surest  means  of  mitiga- 


PROGRESS    OF    CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT.  119 

ting  vice.  The  more  intelligent  a  nation,  the  less  the 
number  of  crimes  committed,  and  the  greater  the 
happiness  of  the  nation,  as  compared  with  those  pos- 
sessing a  lesser  degree  of  intellectual  attainments^ 

As  we  review  the  scale  of  human  history,  and  note 
the  progressive  development  of  man's  capabilities, 
we  find  a  decrease  of  intelligence  and  a  greater  dis- 
cord of  the  moral  and  social  nature,  until  we  at  last 
reach  the  heathen,  where  those  virtues  which  distin- 
guish man  from  the  brute  are  yet  in  a  state  of  chaos. 
Crime  and  the  mode  of  inflicting  penalties  therefor 
run  parallel  with  the  progressive  or  retrograding 
epoch  of  human  intelligence.  Crime  in  our  day  is 
gradually  diminishing,  and  the  inhuman  modes  of  in- 
flicting punishment  are  greatly  modified.  Reasoning 
from  the  past,  the  time  is  not  far  in  the  future  when 
capital  punishment  will  take  its  place  among  the 
things  that  were. 

If  we  are  thus  progressing,  it  may  further  be 
argued  that  the  time  will  come  when  crime  will  no 
more  be  known  among  men,  and,  consequently,  no 
kind  of  p^ln^shment  necessary.  What  a  glorious 
habitation  this  earth  will  then  be ! — when  men  and 
women  will  live,  as  it  were,  "  a  law  unto  themselves." 
This,  it  may  be  affirmed,  is  an  impossibility,  from  the 
very  nature  of  man,  who  is  naturally  inclined  to  evil. 
It  will  be  admitted  that  individuals  have  attained  to 
such  a  degree  of  perfection  that  they  are  enabled 
to  live  lives  of  beauty  and  goodness.  Now,  if  it  is 
possible  for  individuals  to  attain  the  ultimate  design 
of  human  life,  which  is  happiness,  then  it  is  possible 
for  all  nations  and  races  of  men  on  earth  to  attain 


120  CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT. 

that  state.  Though  this  may  require  thousands  of 
ages,  yet  we  believe  the  ultimatum  of  human  life 
originally  designed  by  our  Creator,  is  a  state  of 
happiness.  If  this  reasoning  is  not  correct,  every 
effort  to  harmonize  and  reform  men  is  a  failure, 
God  himself  would  be  a  failure ;  creation  would  be  a 
failure.  But  this  is  not  possible,  for  the  tendency 
evidently  is,  and  has  been  since  the  advent  of  man 
on  earth,  to  rise  out  of  chaos.  Everything  in  nature 
is  more  perfect ;  the  atmosphere  is  more  pure ;  the 
flowers  are  more  beautiful ;  vegetation  is  more  health- 
ful ;  animals  are  more  refined  in  their  nature,  and 
more  easily  domesticated ;  birds  are  more  happy  in 
their  songs, — than  six  thousand  years  ago.  Of  course, 
man  is  keeping  pace  in  the  development  of  his 
powers ;  in  his  ability  to  obey  natural  laws ;  in  his 
comprehension  of  the  mysteries  of  nature, — even  in 
understanding  the  wonderful  operations  of  his  own 
mind. 

But  it  may  be  again  affirmed  that,  so  long  as  men 
exist,  crime  will  exist,  and  all  the  difference  there 
will  be,  is  that  he  will  be  more  capable  of  discerning 
criminal  action,  and  the  line  between  virtue  and 
wrong-doing  will- be  more  marked,  so  that  this  work 
of  choosing  between  right  and  wrong,  which  is  now 
infinite,  will  be  simplified ;  that  the  two  principles  of 
right  and  wrong  are  only  relative  conditions,  which 
have  existed  from  all  time,  and  will  continue  to  exist 
throughout  all  eternity;  that  the  grosser  mind  is  only 
capable  of  discerning  crimes  of  the  crudest  and  lowest 
forms,  while  the  enlightened  mind  is  capable  of  dis- 
cerning crimes  which  to  the  unenlightened  mind 


PROGRESS    OF    CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT.  121 

seem  no  crime  at  all,  and  so  on  ad  infinitum.  How- 
ever this  may  be  decided  by  our  readers,  we  do  not 
believe  that  there  is  a  constant  strife  between 

CHAOS  AND  ORDER. 

Order,  having  once  taken  the  place  of  chaos,  is  ab- 
solute in  its  power.  Since  the  planetary  system  be- 
gan to  move  in  regular  order  it  has  never  deviated 
from  its  natural  course.  Everything  in  nature  moves 
in  accordance  with  the  law,  governing,  in  the  very 
nature  of  things,  the  universe  and  all  within  it,  by 
absolute  power. 

Actions  of  men  are  absolute  in  themselves,  though 
they  may  only  have  a  relative  existence.  We  can  not 
recall  an  act,  a  word  spoken,  a  criminal  or  good  deed, 
restore  life,  or  change  the  natural  order  of  things,  any 
sooner  than  we  can 

"  Call  back  the  wind, 
Or  undo  what  time  has  done  ; 
Beckon  music  from  a  broken  lute  ; 
Renew  the  redness  of  a  last  year's  rose  ; 
Or  dig  the  sunken  sunset  from  the  deep." 

Actions,  then,  are  absolute,  and  we  cannot  recall 
them.  All  that  lies  in  our  power  is  to  prevent  the 
recurrence  of  similar  deeds  or  actions.  God  and 
nature  have  planted  in  and  around  us  means  by 
which  we  may  overcome  evil  tendencies,  and  avoid  a 
repetition  of  wrong-doing.  The  very  fact  that  a  man 
can  outgrow  evil  inclinations,  and  make  reparation 
to  injured  persons,  proves  our  position — that  any 
person  may  control  discord,  and  become  organically 


122  CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT. 

and  constitutionally  harmonious  within  himself,  and 
at  length  be  naturally  inclined  to  live  in  harmony 
with  "  Law  and  Order."  The  history  of  capital  pun- 
ishment, as  before  remarked,  favors  our  views,  as  to 
its  gradually  becoming  extinct.  A  more  rational  and 
efficient  mode  of  punishing  criminals  will  soon  take 
its  place  in  this  country,  as  well  as  in  other  of  the 
more  enlightened  nations.  As  soon  as  the  masses 
can  be  made  to  believe  that  an  "  ounce  of  prevention 
is  better  than  a  pound  of  cure,"  and  that  the  only 
sure  means  of  averting  evil  is  a  well-balanced  and 
universal  education  of  the  rising  generation,  we  pre- 
dict that  it  will  not  be  necessary  to  put  human  beings 
to  death  as  a  punishment  for  crime. 


CHAPTER  X. 

ON    PUNISHMENT   OF  CRIME    IN    GENERAL. 

It  is  evident,  from  experience  and  daily  observation, 
"  that  the  way  of  the  transgressor  is  hard."  The  laws 
of  nature  hold  a  firm  grasp  on  those  who  oppose  her 
teachings.  From  these  laws  men  have  learned  to  es- 
tablish certain  rules  or  laws,  by  which  to  govern  their 
own  actions.  As  everything  in  the  universe  is  gov- 
erned by  law,  man  has  a  right  to  rule  and  govern 
even  to  hold  accountable  those  who  transgress  the 
laws  of  right  in  their  dealings  and  intercourse  with 
each  other.  The  object  of  man,  then,  is  to  enact 
lawrs  which  agree  in  spirit  with  the  laws  of  God  and 
nature,  to  which  they  will  approximate,  in  proportion 
as  he  understands  the  latter. 

The  laws  of  man,  as  well  as  the  laws  of  God  and 
nature,  have  for  their  primary  object  the  correction 
and  reformation  of  those  who  are  transgressing  the 
laws  of  right,  and  also  to  keep  those  in  the  right  who 
are  right.  Laws  exist  from  necessity,  and  nothing  in 
the  grand  universe  can  exist  without  law  and  order. 
As  man  progressed  in  intelligence,  he  learned  more 
and  more,  of  the  governing  principle  of  things  and 
men ;  and  since  man  first  began  his  career  on  this 
globe,  the  line  between  right  and  wrong  has  been 
drawn  closer  and  finer.  Hence  the  laws  of  necessity 
have  changed  from  time  to  time,  and  even  now  men 
enact  laws  according  as  they  understand  the  right 

123 


124  CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT. 

and  the  wrong.  Governments  have  progressed  from 
anarchy  to  monarchy,  and  from  monarchy  to  republic, 
—in  this  country, — and  may,  in  time,  become  demo- 
cratic. This  enables  men  now  to  enact  laws  by  a 
majority  vote,  by  which  means  an  average  expression 
of  the  intelligence  of  the  people  of  any  community 
or  state  may  be  ascertained.  In  this  manner  we  can 
also  obtain  an  average  expression  of  the  conscience 
of  men,  and  the  most  rational  course  to  be  pursued 
in  punishing  crime.  In  this  manner  also  laws  are 
established  by  men  to  govern  their  own  actions  in 

general  intercourse  one  with  another.    • 
t> 

We  have  stated  that  there  is  nothing  that  is  not 
under  law,  from  the  little  atom  of  dust  under  our 
feet  up  to  man.  Without  law  and  order,  the  universe 
would  become  a  chaos,  time  would  cease,  and  a  wreck 
of  worlds,  and  mingling  of  the  human  soul  with  the 
general  mass,  would  be  the  end.  Law  is  simply  a 
rule  of  action.  Now,  if  action  according  to  rule  is 
law,  then  any  action  contrary  to  rule  is  a  violation  of 
law,  and  is,  therefore,  approximating  to  chaos,  dis- 
cord, and  will,  like  the  "  crash  of  worlds,"  become  a 
wreck.  Therefore,  there  can  be  no  law  without  a 
penalty.  There  can  not  be  a  transgression  of  law 
without  a  corresponding  penalty  following  such  trans- 
gression as  a  natural  consequence. 

Withhold  one  of  the  life-giving  elements — as  light, 
for  instance — from  the  plant,  by  placing  it  in  a  dun- 
geon, and  it  will  wither  and  die.  Place  a  man  in  a 
dungeon,  and  he  will  wither  and  die ;  he  will  be  of  no 
consequence  to  himself,  to  man,  nor  to  heaven.  The 
consequences  of  any  violation  of  law  we  denominate, 


ON    PUNISHMENT    OF    CRIME    IN    GENERAL.         125 

in  accordance  with  a  popular  idea,  "  penalty,"  which 
every  general  or  special  law  defines,  prescribes,  and 
deals  out,  according  as  the  nature  of  the  crime  may 
indicate.  If  the  law  says,  Thou  shalt  not  steal,  then 
the  law  must  also  define  to  what  extent  you  shall  not 
commit  such  a  crime ;  or,  when  found  guilty,  pre- 
scribe the  punishment,  in  order  that  justice,  which  is 
the  end  of  the  law,  is  not  defeated.  We  see,  then, 
that  all  human  beings  are  subject  to  punishment, 
either  when  acting  in  violation  of  nature's  laws  or 
the  laws  of  man. 

Whether  it  can  be  said  that  nature  punishes  or 
only  causes  suffering,  is  a  question.  To  punish,  im- 
plies to  deal  out  a  certain  amount  of  torture.  This 
is  not  what  we  wish  to  have  understood  when  we  use 
the  word  punishment.  (See  Part  Third  of  this  book.) 

Nature  is  always  true  to  herself,  sure  in  her  work- 
ings, and  never  fails  to  correct  her  own  wrongs ; 
hence,  no  one  who  violates  any  of  her  laws  can  ever 
escape  the  penalty — suffering.  "  Though  a  man  flee 
to  the  ends  of  the  earth,  nature  will  be  there  to  re- 
quire obedience,  until  the  last  farthing  is  paid."  So 
long  as  men  are,  by  creation  and  education,  inclined 
to  do  wrong,  and  so  long  as  men  are  guilty  of  crime 
so  long  will  it  be  necessary  to  govern  men's  actions 
by  legal  enactment,  the  object  of  which  is  plainly  to 
point  out  the  right  and  define  the  wrong.  It  is  evi- 
dent, from  the  knowledge  we  have  of  nature's  laws, 
that  man  is  required  to  live  in  harmony  with,  first 
for  his  own  happiness,  and  secondly  for  the  happi- 
ness of  others.  For  the  same  reason,  men  have 
established  law  and  order, — first  to  restrain  one's 


126  CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT. 

unnatural  inclinations,  and  to  bring  happiness  to  the 
individual ;  secondly,  to  the  whole  human  family. 

The  end  of  law  is  justice, — justice  to  the  individ- 
ual— justice  to  the  whole  human  family.  Nature 
guards  her  children  against  further  violence  by  pro- 
ducing pain.  Bodily  violation  of  law  produces  bodily 
pain.  Moral  transgression  produces  moral  pain ; 
and  were  it  not  so,  the  destroying  forces  would  con- 
tinue their  destructive  process,  until  the  body  or  the 
soul  is  destroyed.  Hence,  pain  is  an  affliction  just 
and  right.  This,  however,  nature  does  not  inflict 
from  any  malice  or  revenge ;  it  is  an  act  of  mercy, 
the  object  being  mainly  to  reform  and  make  better 
those  who  are  so  unfortunate  as  to  come  in  contact 
with,  or  act  in  opposition  to,  the  harmony  of  God 
and  nature. 

The  primary  object,  then,  of  all  law  and  punish- 
ment is  and  should  be,  first,  reformation  of  the  crim- 
inal ;  second,  compensation  to  the  injured ;  and, 
thirdly,  prevention  of  further  crime. 

We  remark  here  briefly,  that  as  nature  restrains 
men  in  their  criminal  course,  by  setting  up  an  oppo- 
site force, — pain, — so  are  men  justifiable  in  restrain- 
ing those  who  are  infringing  on  others'  rights,  by 
apprehending,  trying  by  a  court  of  justice,  and,  if 
found  guilty,  punishing  them  according  as  the  nature 
of  the  crime  may  indicate.  On  this  point  we  all  agree, 
and  even  favor  a  strict  enforcement  of  law  in  every 
instance  of  criminal  action.  But  we  proceed  now  to 
consider  the 


ON    PUNISHMENT    OF    CRIME    IN    GENERAL.        127 

DIFFERENT  MODES 

of  punishment  or  means  of  correction.  As  we  have 
stated,  the  first  object  of  law  and  order,  and  the  sub- 
jection of  persons  to  penal  service,  is  to  reform,  if 
possible,  those  guilty  of  trangression.  We  differ 
widely  from  those  who  incline  to  the  present  mode  of 
reforming  our  criminals.  This,  we  hold,  can  not  be 
done  by  inflicting  a  greater  injury,  on  the  principle 
of  contraria  contraribus  curantur;  that,  by  produc- 
ing an  artificial  disease,  we  can  cure  the  natural  one. 
Neither  can  this  be  done  on  the  homeopathic  prin- 
ciple of  similia  similibus  curantur:  that  treatment 
similar  to  that  which  produces  a  disease  will  cure  it- 
In  surgical  practice,  if  we  would  heal  a  wound,  we 
must  not  produce  greater  irritation,  by  applying  fric- 
tion, on  the  principle  of  "an  eye  for  an  eye, or  a  tooth 
for  a  tooth."  In  all  those  conditions,  sanitive  and 
restorative  means  are  indicated.  We  therefore,  can 
not  admit  that  to  cure  the  criminal  of  his  malady,  it 
is  best  to  apply  the  lash,  or  in  any  manner  to  inflict 
corporal  torture ;  but  only  to  restrain  and  subdue 
the  evil — disease — and  stimulate  the  healing  powers, 
by  which  means  we  accomplish  the  primary  object, 
namely,  curing  our  patient  of  his  criminal  inclinations. 
By  this  we  mean  to  be  understood  that  a  person  con- 
victed of  crime,  sentenced  to  imprisonment  for  a 
given  number  of  years,  condemned  to  hard  labor, 
and  sparingly  fed,  can  not  so  be  reformed.  Some 
provision  must  be  made  by  which  the  various  facul- 
ties of  the  mind  can  also  be  cultivated.  We  would 
have  a  prison  where  the  convict  is  subjected  to  eight 


128  CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT. 

hours'  hard  labor,  eight  hours  for  intellectual,  moral, 
and  social  instruction,  thus  improving  his  mental 
condition,  and  eight  hours  for  rest  and  sleep.  (See 
Chapter  VI). 

Simply  to  condemn  a  person  to  penal  servitude 
for  a  oqven  length  of  time  and  make  no  effort  to  re- 

o  o 

form  him,  is  an  outrage,  not  only  to  the  criminal,  but 
society  in  general.  The  criminal,  after  serving  his 
time  in  prison,  is  allowed  again  to  mingle  in  society, 
and  if  there  is  any  difference  in  his  nature  he  is  less 
capable  of  self  government  than  before,  and  is  liable 
at  any  time  to  commit  a  greater  crime  than  before. 
But  recently  a  murder  is  reported  as  having  taken 
place  in  the  state  of  New  York  perpetrated  by  a  re- 
turned convict,  who  served  seven  years  for  stealing  a 
small  sum  of  money.  On  his  return  home,  he  killed 
the  man  who  had  caused  him  to  be  convicted.  Now, 
if  this  convict  had  been  properly  treated,  in  those 
seven  years,  such  a  high  tone  of  moral  duty  might 
have  been  acquired  that  he  would  have  forgiven 
rather  than  murdered  this  man. 

In  this  city  hundreds  of  criminals  are  sent  to  the 
work  house  called  the  "  Bridewell," — some  for  a  few 
weeks  and  some  for  a  few  months, — then  liberated 
again,  only  to  commit  a  greater  crime.  The  mal- 
treatment they  receive  in  these  prisons  feeds  the 
faculty  of  revenge,  and  the  punishment,  in  our  judge- 
ment, is  not  reformatory.  Hundreds  of  vagabonds, 
thieves,  gamblers,  and  "black-legs,"  are  convicted,  and 
those  who  cannot  pay  a  fine  are  sent  to  the  prisons, 
which,  in  turn,  send  out  the  poor  victims  again  to 
mingle  in  society,  without  having  been  taught  a  single 


ON    PUNISHMENT    OF    CRIME    IN    GENERAL.         1 2Q 

lesson  to  aid  them  in  overcoming  their  evil  natures, 
and  be  better  men  and  women.  They  have  nothing 
to  show  that  they  are  reformed,  hence  they  are  dis- 
carded from  society ;  and  though  they  may  have 
formed  resolutions  never  to  do  a  wrong  deed  again, 
nevertheless,  by  and  by,  when  they  find  no  one  to 
sympathize  with  them  or  assist  them  in  avoiding  the 
seducing  influence  of  their  surroundings,  and  find 
that  the  "spirit  is  willing,  but  the  flesh  is  weak,"  in  a 
short  time  they  are  entrapped  again  in  crime.  We 
hold  that  this  is  an  outrage  practiced  both  upon  the 
criminal  and  society.  All  persons  who  are  convicted 
of  crime,  where  imprisonment  is  deemed  necessary, 
should  be  sent  to  a 

REFORMATORY   PRISON, 

where  they  should  be  required  to  remain  until  they 
can  be  sufficiently  reformed  to  enable  them  to  live  at 
least  an  average  moral  life. 

To  acquire  such  abilities,  time  is  necessary,  also 
the  be..st  known  means,  to  so  regenerate  both  body 
and  mind  that  it  will  be  safe  to  give  the  criminal  his 
liberty.  For  our  idea  of  the  kind  and  form  of  prison 
we  recommend,  we  refer  our  readers  to  Chapter  XI. 
Here  the  convict  should  be  required  to  labor  in  the 
pursuit  of  some  trade  or  vocation,  where  his  labor 
will  produce  enough  to  pay  all  expenses,  and  what- 
ever amount  he  earns  more  than  will  be  necessary  to 
defray  expenses,  should  be  applied,  at  least,  par- 
tially, to 


130  CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT. 

COMPENSATE 

the  party  whom  the  criminal  injured  at  the  time  ol 
committing  the  crime.  Eight  hours  of  well-regulated 
labor  will  produce  enough  profit  to  pay  all  expense 
of  conducting  the  business  of  the  prison,  and  of  the 
educational  department,  and  reap  a  daily  profit  which 
should  go  to  the  injured  party  until  full  restoration 
is  made ;  after  which,  the  amount  due  should  be  at 
the  prisoner's  disposal,  to  be  paid  to  his  wife,  chil- 
dren, brother,  sister,  parents,  or  friends,  as  he  may 
direct. 

There  is  no  moral  right  why  a  state  should  appro- 
priate the  earnings  of  a  convict  further  than  to  pay 
all  expenses.  I  am  not  aware  that  all  states  give  a 
lease  to  some  one  for  a  stipulated  time  and  sum  of 
money,  but  I  know  that  the  state  of  Indiana,  some 
years  since,  leased  the  Jeffersonville  prison  for  a 
number  of  thousand  dollars  to  a  gentleman  who,  of 
course,  would  make  all  he  could  out  of  it,  and  send 
home,  in  as  good  a  condition  as  possible,  those  who 
survived  his  treatment ;  and  we  can  imagine  thq  kind 
of  reformation  they  would  receive. 

Compensation  is  our  second  claim,  which  should 
be  one  of  the  prominent  features  in  punishing  crim- 
inals. This  should  be  required  in  all  instances,  and 
under  all  circumstances.  If  a  man  sells  his  little 
home,  receives  his  pay  for  it,  and  in  the  night  he  is 
robbed  of  this  money,  he  has  lost  all  he  has  in  the 
world.  Is  it  not  right  that  this  money  be  refunded 
to  the  man  by  the  robber?  If  the  robber  is  not 
speedily  arrested,  he  will,  most  probably,  have  spent 


ON    PUNISHMENT    OF    CRIME    IN    GENERAL.        131 

nearly  all  of  the  money,  and  the  injured  man  will  be 
required  to  wait  until  the  robber  can  earn  it  in  prison. 
But  if  the  state  appropriates  all  the  profits,  or  makes 
no  effort  to  accumulate  profits,  by  good  business 
regulations  of  the  states*  prison,  then,  of  course,  it 
will  be  difficult  for  the  prisoner  to  earn  enough  to 
pay  back  the  injured  party, — unless  he  has  property, 
when  it  should  be  held  in  the  same  manner  as  for 
debt. 

I  think  many  will  see  as  I  do  on  another  point. 
An  injured  party  who  has  lost  money  by  theft  should 
be  compensated.  If  it  is  impossible  for  the  prisoner 
to  make  restitution ;  an  appropriation  from  the  gen- 
eral county  funds  should  be  made.  We  cannot  see 
why  this  is  not  good  reasoning,  for  the  injured  party 
may  have  been  a  good  citizen  for  a  lifetime,  and  paid 
taxes,  and  expected  the  protection  which  every  citizen 
has  a  right  to  claim  at  the  hands  of  the  law.  Even 
if  the  prisoner  is  not  competent  to  make  full  restora- 
tion, the  injured  party  should  not  be  entirely  de- 
frauded. 

It  is  plain  to  all  that  punishment  should  be  refor- 
matory, and  compensatory  ;  and  this  brings  us  to  our 
third  question,  namely  : 

PREVENTION  OF  CRIME 

How  to  prevent  crime  has  been  a  study  for  ages, 
and  is  even  now  a  subject  of  serious  thought.  Not- 
withstanding the  many  aspiring  church-steeples, 
schools,  benevolent  associations,  and  reformatory  in- 
stitutions, which  ornament  our  comparatively  civilized 


132  CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT. 

nation,  still  our  newspapers  chronicle  each  day  so 
many  murders,  robberies,  mobs,  insurrections,  and 
crimes  of  all  shades  and  character  that  men  become 
almost  discouraged,  and  often  feel  like  abandoning 
the  work. 

Thus  far  laws  have  been  severe  enough,  and,  in 
many  instances,  too  severe,  and  hence  cannot  be  en- 
forced by  any  jury.  The  most  prominent  reason 
that  we  give  as  to  why  law  and  the  punishment  are 
incompetent  to  counteract  the  criminal  inclinations  of 
men,  is  first,  the  uncertainty  of  enforcement  of  the 
punishment,  and  second,  the  idea  of  bodily  torture 
simply  as  a  means  of  reformation  and  reparation  of 
the  injury  done  by  the  criminal.  The  uncertainty  of 
punishment  of  our  criminals  at  the  present  age  is  so 
prevalent,  that  it  is  almost  useless  to  have  any  one 
arrested.  The  prosecuting  attorney  is  sworn  to  en- 
force the  law,  and  vindicate  justice  in  every  instance 
of  violations  of  law.  The  criminal  hires  the  best 
talent  to  defend  his  case  in  law,  which  he  has  the 
money  to  pay  for.  This  attorney  is  also  sworn,  only, 
however,  to  do  his  duty  by  his  client.  These  two 
antagonistic  powers  meet  in  courts  of  justice,  and 
each  endeavors  to  defeat  the  other,  and  the  one  that 
can  present  the  finest  argument  wins  the  trial.  Each 
lawyer  uses  his  best  powers  to  appear  "  sharp,"  and 
thereby  hopes  to  gain  reputation.  We  will  illustrate 
how  criminals  are  tried  and  punished, — how  the  public 
is  protected,  and  justice  vindicated.  It  is  like  two 
gamblers  at  a  game  of  chance.  The  one  who  has 
had  the  longest  practice  and  is'also  naturally  "  sharp," 
knows  best  how  to  manipulate  the  game,  and  he 


ON    PUNISHMENT    OF    CRIME    IN    GENERAL.        133 

comes  out  ahead.  Right  or  wrong,  he  is  ahead,  and 
wins  a  name  among  gamblers  as  a  "good  fellow";  so 
our  courts  of  justice  are  but  little  else  than  a  game 
of  chance,  and  the  sharpest  lawyer  comes  out  ahead. 
Here  men  are  taught  to  lie  and  those  who  are  not 
very  sharp  naturally  are  "  brightened  up,"  and  go  out 
having  learned,  as  they  say, "  a  thing  or  two,"  and  the 
next  time,  they  know  better  how  to  "  pull  the  wires." 
This  is  called  justice.  This  is  called  prevention  of 
crime.  The  uncertainty  of  punishment  is  one  reason, 
then,  why  "  law  and  order"  is  not  better  observed. 
And  punishment,  being  mainly  of  a  corporeal  nature, 
does  not  reform  the  criminal,  and  hence  is  not  pre- 
ventive. Punishment,  in  many  instances,  is  too 
severe,  and  hence  many  are  allowed  to  go  "  scott 
free."  It  is  an  established  fact  that  Stokes  killed 
Fisk,  and  can  justly,  according  to  law,  be  found  guilty 
of  murder  in  the  first  degree,  the  only  punishment  of 
which,  is  death.  Men  hesitate  to  vote  to  kill  their 
fellow  .man,  and  the  law  is  not  enforced.  This  is 
neither  reformatory,  compensatory,  or  preventive; 
neither  justice  to  the  criminal  nor  to  the  public. 
According  to  our  idea  of  punishment,  this  case 
would  have  long  since  been  disposed  of;  the  criminal 
would  now  be  doing  something  for  himself  and 
others,  and  thousands  of  dollars  would  have  been 
saved  to  the  public.  (See  Chapters  XI  and  XII.) 

To  prevent  crime,  the  following  suggestion,  if 
strictly  observed,  will,  we  think,  accomplish  more  in 
one  year  than  has  hitherto  been  done  in  twenty 
years  ;  and  if  persevered  in  for  a  century  or  two, 
will  almost  entirely  eradicate  crime  from  among  us : 


134  CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT. 

First,  Compulsatory  Education,  which  is  sufficiently 
elucidated  under  that  head,  and  the  reader  is  there- 
fore referred  to  that  chapter.  Second,  rigid  legis- 
lation, and  the  absolute  certainty  of  punishment ; 
the  establishment  of  reformatory  prisons;  compen- 
satory measures  to  be  required  of  every  criminal ; 
and,  thirdly,  the  abolition  of  all  extreme,  unnatural 
punishment,  which  includes  all  corporeal  means  of 
correction,  the  setting  aside  of  which  will  enable  our 
courts  of  justice  to  enforce  the  law,  and  thus  make 
punishment  certain  without  violating  their  own  con- 
science. 


CHAPTER  XL 

STATE'S  PRISONS  AS  A  MEANS  OF  REFORMATION.     WHAT 

WE  UNDERSTAND  BY  A  REFORMATORY  PRISON. 

HOW  IT  SHOULD  BE  CONSTRUCTED, 

AND  HOW  CONDUCTED. 

We  believe  in  rigid  legislation  for  all  crimes  and 
vices.  There  should  be  no  possible  escape  from 
justice;  justice  to  the  individual  as  well  as  to  the 
public. 

As  soon  as  a  person  is  convicted  -  of  crime,  all 
right  to  liberty  on  the  part  of  the  criminal  should  be 
considered  as  forfeited,  and  should  not  be  regained 
by  a  mere  money  fine  or  by  any  executive  pardoning 
power. 

To  punish  merely  by  a  money  fine — only  so  far  as 
compensatory  means  are  necessary  to  repair  injuries 
done  by  the  criminal,  etc., — makes  the  perpetrator 
only  more  angry  and  revengeful.  It  does  not  sub- 
due the  evil  nature.  We  can  hear  every  day  such 
persons  declare  by  everything  great  and  good  that 
they  will  see  the  day  when  they  shall  be  even,  etc., 
seeking  how  to  revenge  themselves  on  those,  who, 
perhaps,  have  honestly  testified  in  the  case. 

We  claim  that  any  crime  committed  as  the  result  of 
depravity  is  too  serious  a  matter  for  any  one  to  be 
permitted  to  buy  their  liberty  by  simply  paying  a 
certain  sum  of  money  into  the  county  treasury,  and 
at  the  same  time  make  no  restoration  to  the  injured 


136  CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT. 

party,  such  as  is  due  every  good  citizen  who  has  suf- 
fered at  the  hands  of  a  debased  criminal.  It  is  not 
reasonable  that  a  mere  forfeiture  of  property  should 
cure  the  criminal  of  his  moral,  intellectual,  social,  or 
bodily  depravity.  It  would  seem  equivalent  to  buy- 
ing salvation  for  a  certain  sum  of  money,  and  thus 
gaining  a  seat  in  Heaven. 

Liberty,  therefore,  can  only  be  restored  to  a  crimi- 
nal after  he  has  made  full  reparation,  to  the  best  of 
his  ability,  and  shown  visible  evidence  of  thorough 
regeneration. 

Nature  never  pardons  offenders  against  her  laws. 
The  moral  statute  book  which  is  accepted  as  a  guide 
by  Christians,  also  teaches,  beyond  a  doubt,  that  all 
who  would  be  saved  must  make  use  of  the  means 
which  God  and  nature  have  implanted  in  and  around 
man.  Science  teaches  that  a  man  must  grow  to  be 
good  or  bad.  If  he  is  to  become  pure  and  holy,  he 
must  strive  for  it  daily,  and  "  usure  with  his  talents," 
and  thus  gradually  overcome  evil  inclinations. 

From  this  standpoint  of  reasoning  we  claim  that 
any  county,  state,  or  government,  has  a  right  to  en- 
force by  legal  action  compulsatory  reformation,  es- 
pecially in  those  who  have  proven  an  incompetency 
to  self-government. 

If  a  man  persistently  commits  a  crime,  by  reason 
of  a  depraved  nature,  we  cannot  see  how  he  can  re- 
ceive consistently  a  pardon  and  be  allowed  his  liberty. 
We  are  safe  in  saying  that  this  would  only  stimulate 
his  evil  propensities,  and  he  would  be  liable  at  any 
time  to  perpetrate  a  greater  crime  than  before.  For 
one  resting  under  the  ban  of  the  law  to  regain  liberty 


PRISONS    AS    A    MEANS    OF    REFORMATION.  137 

visible  and  indisputable  evidence  should  be  required, 
to  show  that  he  or  she  has  been  thoroughly  restored 
to  a  better  condition — has  acquired  the  moral  and 
social  qualities  common  to  those  who  mingle  in  good 
society. 

To  accomplish  this  end, — a  general  reformation 
among  our  criminals, — which  is  the  primary  object 
of  law  and  penal  service,  as  well  as  to  prevent  crime, 
we  ask  permission  to  here  introduce  our  idea  of  what 
we  call  a 

REFORMATORY  PRISON. 

In  the  first  place,  a  prison  should  have  various  de- 
partments, where  every  convict  can  be  furnished  with 
daily  employment. 

Employment  is  necessary  for  healthy  reformation 
in  prison,  as  well  as  out  of  it.  To  labor  for  a  subsis- 
tence is  one  of  the  first  laws  of  nature. 

In  this  respect,  our  prisons  are  sufficiently  arranged, 
even  now,  but  we  can  not  admit  that  a  violation  of 
the  first  law  of  physiology,  by  imposing  too  much 
labor  and  utterly  neglecting  the  cultivation  of  the 
mind,  can  be  termed  reformatory. 

Convicts  are  now  required  to  labor  for  the  state 
ten  to  twelve  hours  daily,  which  is  too  much— in 
prison,  as  well  as  out  of  it.  Those  who  are  compe- 
tent workmen  are  permitted  to  make  extra  time, 
which  is  credited  on  the  prison  books,  and  either  paid 
for  in  money,  or  by  an  abreviation  of  their  term  of 
imprisonment.  Not  long  ago,  we  met  a  convict  who 
had  served  six  years  in  prison,  at  Michigan  City, 


138  CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT. 

Indiana,  whose  crime  was  committed  strictly  under 
force  of  necessity.  His  family  was  greatly  in  need 
of  subsistence,  and  two  men  of  short  acquaintance 
with  him  persuaded  him  to  assist  them  in  robbing  a 
man  whom  they  knew  to  have  money  about  his  per- 
son, agreeing  to  divide  with  him  the  proceeds  of  the 
transaction.  He  consented,  and  in  a  dark  place,  on 
his  way  home  these  three  men  robbed  their  victim  of 
one  hundred  and  thirty  dollars.  The  other  two,  who 
had  the  money,  escaped,  and  this  man  was  arrested 
and  served  six  years  in  the  State's  Prison,  at  hard 
labor,  simply  for  being  accessory  to  the  crime.  This, 
of  course,  made  matters  worse,  and  his  family  suf- 
fered greatly  for  want  of  support  He  was  a  cooper 
by  trade,  and  a  good  workman ;  so  he  requested  a 
daily  task,  with  a  view  that,  if  he  worked  well,  he 
could  make  extra  wages,  and  be  enabled  to  send 
money  to  his  family  for  their  support  This  was 
granted,  but  it  required  all  of  ten  hours  to  complete 
his  task,  although  he  was  an  extra  good  workman. 
After  completing  his  daily  task,  he  worked  three  and 
four  hours  each  day,  the  proceeds  of  which  he  sent 
home  to  his  family.  He  said  that  he  repeatedly 
begged  the  officer  to  lessen  his  task,  so  that  he  could 
do  better  by  his  family,  but  was  not  granted  his 
request. 

After  three  years,  his  health  failed,  and  he  was  no 
longer  enabled  to  make  extra  time,  and  how  his  family 
fared  after  that  time  he  said,  "Godt  only  knows." 
This  man's  soul  was  overflowing  with  revenge.  He 
felt  bitter,  and  swore  that  before  he  died  he  should 
have  revenge  of  those  who  injured  him. 


PRISONS    AS    A    MEANS    OF    REFORMATION.          139 

This  case  is  a  fair  specimen  of  the  unregenerated 
condition  of  returned  convicts  generally ;  not  very 
well  qualified  to  take  their  place  in  good  society. 

The  following  is   the   statement  of  a  New   York 

correspondent,  copied    from    the  Chicago    Tribune. 

It  shows  how  little  sympathy  criminals  get,  and  how 

little  attention  is  given    to  reform  them,  or  to  do 

justice  to  the  public: 

"  The  investigation  into  the  condition  of  the  Tombs  Prison  and  Blackwell's 
Island,  by  one  of  the  morning  papers,  shows  that  criminal  justice  here  is  ad- 
ministered in  the  most  reckless  and  unjust  manner.  The  prison  discipline  and 
management  at  Blackwell's  Isl.and  are  wanting  in  influences  calculated  to  in- 
spire any  encouragement  for  the  reform  in  the  inmates.  Police  justices  are 
constantly  committing  prisoners  in  disregard  of  facts.  It  is  a  common  thing  at 
the  Tombs  to  have  cases  disposed  of  at  the  rate  of  one  a  minute." 

Eight  hours  of  hard  labor  is  enough  for  health,  in 
prison  or  elsewhere,  and  if  more  is  exacted,  as  a  rule, 
the  body  suffers  and  becomes  diseased.  We  have 
shown  elsewhere  in  this  volume  that  bodily  perfection 
is  a  requisite  condition  of  mental  improvement. 

After  the  day's  work,  in  nearly  all  prisons,  the  rule 
practiced  is  to  lock  the  convict  up  in  his  cell  until  the 
next  morning,  when  he  is  required  to  repeat  his  daily 
task.  No  conversation  is  allowed  in  prison  among 
the  convicts.  Nearly  all  state's  prisons  have  a  library  ; 
but  none  are  required  to  read  or  study.  They  can 
do  so  if  they  choose.  This  should  be  made  compul- 
satory.  Occasionally  they  have  .preaching  on  the 
Sabbath,  but  not  often.  Now,  we  hold  it  to  be  a 
scientific  truth  that  a  prisoner  condemned  for  crime 
has  as  much  moral  right  to  the  exercise  of  all  of  his 
mental  faculties  as  those  who  are  not  prisoners. 


I4O  CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT. 

There  should  be  departments  in  every  prison 
where  all  convicts  should  be  required  to  receive 
mental  training  daily.  After  setting  apart  eight 
hours  for  labor;  eight  hours  for  rest  and  mental 
recreation,  out  of  which  three  hours  will  be  necessary 
for  mealtimes,  and  one  hour,  on  the  whole,  in  taking 
a  bath  and  giving  attention  to  the  toilet, — which  is 
necessary  to  keep  healthy, — there  yet  remain  four 
hours,  during  which  each  convict  should  attend 
school.  A  place  could  be  arranged  like  one  of  our 
school  halls,  where  they  may  be  taught,  at  least  in  all 
of  the  common  branches  of  education,  dividing  them 
up  into  classes  according  to  the  different  degree  of 
intellectual  attainments ;  each  convict  to  learn  and 
recite  his  lesson  the  same  as  our  children  in  schools, 
so  as  to  make  education  practical. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  introduce  the  Bible  here  as 
a  lawful  text-book ;  but  the  exercises  should  be 
opened  and  closed  by  music,  singing,  and  prayer,  in 
which  each  convict  be  required  to  join.  This,  we 
hold,  is  necessary,  from  a  scientific  point  of  view, 

PROF.  TYNDAL 

notwithstanding;  for  we  know  that  music  and  sing- 
ing have  a  charming  effect  on  not  only  men  but  ani- 
mals. Without  music  the  lion  and  tiger  could  not 
be  controlled  at  all  by  man.  It  operates  on  ideality, 
and  sublimity.  In  a  word,  it  causes  men  to  forget 
the  "  ups  and  downs"  of  life,  and  relaxes  the  grosser 
nature.  If  things  heavenly  are  allowed  to  assert 
their  claims,  though  only  for  the  time  being,  they  have 


PRISONS    AS    A    MEANS    OF    REFORMATION. 

a  harmonizing  effect.  So  with  prayer;  it  has  a  har- 
monizing effect,  and  though  it  acts  on  a  different  set 
of  faculties,  still  it  is  a  potent  means  to  subdue  the 
gross  and  conflicting  nature  of  man.  The  simple 
act  of  bowing  in  humiliation  is  prayer,  and  a  good 
process,  by  which  convicts  may  be  much  benefited, 
to  change  from  an  audible  prayer,  by  the  sound  of 
the  "  gavel,"  call  every  one  on  their  knees,  requesting 
ten  minutes  silent  prayer  by  all,  while  at  the  same 
time  a  bell  or  large  triangle  is  tolled  silently,  as  it 
were,  at  "  low  twelve,"  so  that  the  bell  seems  at  a  far 
distance ;  at  the  same  time  darken  the  room  to  near 
twilight.  At  the  end  of  ten  minutes  a  single  sound  of 
the  "  gavel,"  and  all  be  required  to  say  "  Amen,"  aloud, 

This,  we  believe,  has  a  greater  harmonizing  effect 
than  an  audible  prayer  by  some  one  presiding.  Some 
such  exercises  should  be  had  at  the  beginning  and 
closing  of  every  evening's  instruction  of  the  poor 
criminal.. 

We  ask  permission  here  to  give  our  views  on  the 
subject  of  prayer,  which  we  believe  to  be  scientific- 
ally true.  Prayer,  like  music,  has  a  harmonizing 
effect  on  the  one  who  prays,  and  on  no  one  else. 
Harmony  is  healthful,  and  the  first  object  of  nature ; 
therefore,  any  process  which  produces  harmony, 
where  discord  previously  existed,  is  good  and  useful. 
We  do  not  believe  that  prayer  to  God  will  ever 
change  his  general  course;  or  induce  him  to  act  by 
special  decree,  even  to  pardon  the  criminal  of  his 
sins, — without  strict  obedience  to  "  His  laws  fixt  fast 
in  Fate."  How,  then,  is  prayer  answered  ?  Simply 
by  the  process  of  humiliation  ;  it  has  a  harmonizing 


142  CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT 

effect,  subduing  the  grosser  feelings,  and  in  this  re- 
spect those  who  are  in  need  of  prayer  are  blessed, 
and  made  happier  and  better.  You  will  observe  that 
the  man  in  business  who  prays  much,  is  always  the 
most  successful,  other  things  being  equal ;  for  the 
greater  the  harmony  in  one's  disposition,  the  better 
qualified  is  he  for  the  duties  of  life.  On  this  prin- 
ciple, Prof.  Tyndal  would  find  himself  defeated  in  his 
proposed  "  prayer  test ;"  for  any  thing  that  has  a  har- 
monizing effect,  indulged  in  at  proper  intervals  and 
proper  times,  is  good  even  for  the  sick.  This  every  well 
informed  physician  must  admit  to  be  correct  reason- 
ing. Music  and  prayer,  then,  should  constitute  part 
of  the  mental  exercise,  not  only  on  the  Sabbath,  but 
every  day,  during  the  four  hours  of  school  exercise, 
which  we  propose.  All  persons,  including  convicts, 
will  be  much  more  refreshed  bodily,  after  the  eight 
hours'  hard  labor,  than  if  no  such  exercise  is  had.  For 
each  evening  in  the  week  have  different  exercises. 
At  least  one  night  in  the  week  some  one  should  be 
invited,  free  of  charge,  to  lecture  on  some  subject 
relating  to  human  science.  If  these  lecturers  come 
from  abroad,  the  traveling  expenses  .should  be  paid. 
No  creed,  sect,  or  religion  in  particular  should  be  re- 
quired as  a  qualification  of  any  who  give  instruction 
to  convicts. 

Woman  should  particularly  be  allowed  to  exercise 
her  power  in  these  places,  as  teacher,  lecturer,  etc. 
The  reason  why  woman  should  be  invited  and  hired 
for  these  places,  and  to  bring  her  influence  to  bear  on 
the  prisoners,  requires  no  explanation. 

Different  lyceums  should  be  organized,  to  meet  in 


PRISONS    AS    A    MEANS    OF    REFORMATION.  143 

different  halls,  according  to  the  the  degree  of  de- 
pravity or  intellectuality  of  the  prisoners,  where  sub- 
jects of  importance  should  be  allowed  to  be  debated 
by  the  convicts,  thus  drawing  their  attention  away 
from  their  fallen  condition,  that  they  may,  by  and 
by,  arise  from  their  groveling  nature  and  aspire 
to  sublime  contemplation.  One  evening,  at  least,  in 
the  week  should  be  set  apart  for  some  innocent  amuse- 
ment,— amusement,  however,  which  always  has  a  moral 
underlying  it. 

Here  we  must  make  a  greater  effort  to  moral  cul- 
ture than  with  the  child.  The  child  requires  a  great- 
er variety  of  education ;  but  here  everything  should 
have  a  moral  to  it.  The  faculties  of  reason  and 
conscience  should  by  all  means  be  well  instructed, 
and  all  unruly  faculties  subdued,  and  induced  to  rest, 
and  by  this  means  bring  into  a  greater  activity  a 
higher  order  of  faculties.  An  extra  suit  of  clothing 
should  be  provided  for  Sunday,  and  all  underclothing 
be  changed  twice  a  week,  and,  if  possible,  a  clean 
night-shirt  be  worn,  as  all  workingmen  should  do  for 
health. 

Hygienic  rules  should  be  as  strictly  enforced  in 
prison  as  they  are  in  our  insane  asylums.  Water  is 
cheap,  and  every  state's  prison  should  be  well  sup- 
plied with  bath  rooms,  and  daily  bathing  be  required. 
Bath  rooms  should  be  supplied  with  hot  and  cold 
water.  Hot  water  can  be  furnished  by  the  same  fire 
that  supplies  steam-power  to  the  shops,  etc. 

The  cells,  or  sleeping  apartments,  should  all  front 
south,  so  that  the  sun  can  shine  into  them,  and  a 
large  yard  or  grounds  be  provided,  where,  at  a  o;iven 


144  CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT. 

hour,  prisoners  should  be  allowed  to  exercise  in  the 
open  air  and  sun-light. 

Do  this,  and  men  will  work  better  during  the  eight 
hours,,  be  much  easier  reformed  and  controlled,  and 
instead  of  coming  home  vagabonds,  they  will  return 
respectable  men  and  women,  having  truly  been  bene- 
fited by  the  pumshment.  of  the  law. 

Wherever  we  have  failed  in  our  suggestions,  or 
failed  to  mention  all  necessary  departments  belong- 
ing to  a  truly  reformatory  prison,  we  hope  others 
better  qualified  than  we  may  complete  the  plan.  We 
would,  however,  suggest  a  separate  prison  for 

MURDERERS. 

This,  of  course,  our  readers  will  say,  "  is  not  neces- 
sary,— inasmuch  as  we  hang  most  of  our  murderers." 
But  we  find  that  only  one  out  of  fifty  murderers  is 
ever  hanged.  Why  this  is  so  will  be  the  subject  of 
another  chapter.  While  we  shall  argue  that  capital 
punishment  is  wrong  and  inhuman,  we  shall  also  show 
that  solitary  confinement  in  a  dungeon  is  also  wrong, 
and  worse  than  hanging.  Hence,  we  shall  require  a 
prison  for  the  safe  keeping  of  such  as  are  so  far  de- 
praved as  to  kill  one  of  their  fellow  beings.  This 
kind  of  a  prison  should  be  built  doubly  strong,  and 
arranged  so  as  to  give  each  a  separate  apartment, 
and  provide  employment  daily  by  which  expenses 
can  be  defrayed.  It  should  be  conducted  about  the 
same  as  the  prison  for  minor  offences,  although  a 
more  rigid  government  should  be  had,  from  the  fact 
that  a  murderer  is  evidently  more  depraved  than  one 


PRISONS    AS    A    MEANS    OF    REFORMATION.  145 

who  simply  has  stolen.  Again,  the  educational  de- 
partment may  be  made  optional.  We  believe  in  the 
imprisonment  for  life,  where  a  man  takes  the  life  of 
another ;  and  no  pardoning  power,  save  that  of  the 
jury  and  community  who  have  found  him  guilty  or 
murder,  may,  when  circumstances  demand  it,  reprieve 
him.  The  culprit  should  labor  in  the  reformatory 
prison,  where  he  can  acquire  better  and  more  easily 
such  qualifications  as  society  demands  for  its  protec- 
tion. We  think,  however,  that  all  murderers  had  best 
be  sent  to  penal  servitude  for  life,  and  caused  to  earn 
enough,  if  possible,  to  compensate  those  whom  they 
have  injured  permanently.  This  prison  may  closely 
approximate  to  the  reformatory  prison,  where  the 
same  machinery  can  be  made  to  supply  power,  water, 
etc.  The  educators,  lecturers,clergymen,  and  scien- 
tists, who  visit  the  reformatory  prison,  may  easily  visit 
the  murderers,  and  speak  a  word  of  encouragement, 
to  render  a  heavy  heart  lighter,  and  to  prepare  them 
for  another  life.  These  prisons  may  be  conducted 
like  clock-work;  for  we  certainly  have  enough  knowl- 
edge of  science  and  human  nature  to  construct  rules 
and  systems  that  will  work  well  and  profitably,  if 
people  only  can  agree,  and  see  alike. 

One  thing  is  true,  and  that  is,  but  little  attention  is 
given  to  a  criminal  by  society.  He  is  sent  off  to 
state's  prison,  and  that  is  the  last  of  him.  This  cer- 
tainly does  not  speak  very  well  for  a  Christian  people. 
It  augments  crime  instead  of  decreasing  it.  When 
a  murder  is  committed  in  a  county,  there  should  be  a 
day  of  prayer  and  humiliation,  each  person  examin- 
ing their  own  condition ;  and,  instead  of,  as  now 

10 


146  CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT. 

crying  out,  hang  him,  they  should  visit  the  poor 
wretch,  and  pity  rather  than  despise ;  for  we  can  not 
imagine  a  greater  sorrow,  or  a  more  deplorable  con- 
dition, than  to  be  a  murderer. 

"  The  ugliest  fiend  of  hell !  a  deadly  venom 
Preys  on  his  vitals,  turns  the  healthful  hue 
Of  his  fresh  cheeks  to  haggard  sallowness; 
And  dries  his  spirit  up. 

"  Good  stars,  that  were  his  former  guides. 
Have  empty  left  their  orbs,  and  shot  their  fires 
Into  the  abyss  of  hell. 

Curs't  is  the  wretch  enslaved  to  such  a  vice, 
Who  ventures  life  and  soul  upon  the  dice." 


J 


CHAPTER  XII. 

REFUTATION     OF     THE    DEATH    PENALTY.        HAVE    WE    A 

RIGHT     TO     INFLICT     PUNISHMENT     BY     DEATH  ? 

REASONS    IRREFUTABLE  ;    NOT    A    SINGLE 

RATIONAL    ARGUMENT    LEFT    WHY 

WE    SHOULD    KILL    TO    PUNISH. 

Capital  punishment  is  doubtless  a  relic  of  the  darlc" 
ages,  and  is  one  of  the  evils  afflicting  enlightened 
and  civilized  nations  of  the  present  era.  The  same 
human  ingenuity  that  applies  science,  in  the  use  of 
electricity,  of  steam,  and  other  inventions,  in  render- 
ing general  good  to  mankind,  is,  we  think,  sufficiently 
advanced  at  this  age  to  devise  some  substitute  as  a 
means  of  punishing  capital  crime  aside  from  tlie, 
death  penalty.  It  is  a  serious  question  whether  death 
is  a  penalty  at  all,  and  when  we  come  to  argue  the 
point,  our  readers  will  see  the  force  of  this  assertion. 
In  previous  chapters  of  this  volume  we  have  can- 
vassed, to  some  degree,  the  causes  of  crime,  also  ad- 
vanced a  few  ideas  as  to  how  to  prevent  it.  We  are 
now  persuaded  that  our  readers  are  sufficiently  pre- 
pared to  receive,  and  consider 

OUR  ARGUMENTS 

and  reasons  why  the  death  penalty  should  not  be  in- 
flicted. In  the  first  place  we  remark  that,  as  we  have 
already  stated,  the  primary  object  of  law  and  punish- 

147 


14-8  ,      CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT. 

ment  is  reformation  of  the  criminal,  and  we  hold 
should  be  compensatory  as  well  as  preventive  of 
future  crime.  As  to  the  first  proposition,  all  will 
agree  that  it  is  right  and  good  to  render  'happier  all 
those  that  are  in  sorrow,  and  that  it  is  a  glorious  work. 

<*'  Punishment,  it  is  believed,  should  be  reformatory 
in  its  character;  if  possible,  to  restore  the  criminal  to 
a  normal  condition,  not  only  for  his  own  good  here 
and  hereafter,  but  also  for  the  general  good  of  man- 
kind. 

This,  then,  it  is  evident,  cannot  be  accomplished  by 
inflicting  the  death  penalty.  For  when  a  man  is 
dead,  all  earthly  means  of  reformation  is  to  him  lost ; 
it  is  corporal  punishment ;  it  is  like  striking  a  man  in 
the  face  to  reform  him,  or  kill  him  to  make  him  bet- 
ter. The  heathen  mother  throws  her  infant  into  the 
river  Ganges  to  appease  the  wrath  of  her  god.  The 
Christian  hangs  his  fellowman  to  appease  the  wrath  of 
his  God;  and  believes  it  a  command  of  God  "that 
he  who  sheds  man's  blood  by  man  shall  his  blood  be 

.shed." 

\r   In  the  second  place,  we   cannot  see  how  punish- 

f  ment  can  be  compensatory  after  a  criminal  is  dead. 
We  can  not  benefit  tKose  who  are  dead ;  who  were 
murdered,  by  murdering  also  in  turn.  It  can  not 
benefit  the  injured  party,  who  are  living, to  inflict  the 
death  penalty. 

There  can  no  possible  benefit  be  derived  by  hang- 
ing a  man,  either  to  the  dead,  to  the  living,  to  the 
culprit,  or  to  society,  except,  perhaps,  the  carpenter 
who  is  fortunate  enough  to  get  the  job  to  build  the 
gallows. 


REFUTATION  OF  THE  DEATH  PENALTY.     149 

The  popular  belief  is  that  one  who  has  been  in- 
strumental in  taking  the  life  of  another,  should  be 
required  to  forfeit  his  life  also  ? 

It  can  be  no  satisfaction  to  the  dead  to  know  that, 
as  he  was  ushered  out  of  life  prematurely  at  the 
hand  of  the  assassin,  the  assassin  will  also  have  to 
render  up  his  life  prematurely  for  having  done  such 
a  deed.  It  reminds  us  of  the  time  during  our  late 
war,  when  retaliation  was  talked  of,  viz.,  to  hang  one 
of  the  southern  prisoners  north,  for  every  one  of  our 
men  hanged  by  the  southern  army.  That  this  would 
deter  the  south  from  hanging  our  men,  it  was  believed  ; 
but  what  satisfaction  could  it  have  been  to  one  of 
our  men  to  know  that  while  he  was  beinor  handed 

O  C5 

south,  some  one  was  meeting  the  same  fate  north. 
We  apprehend  none.  The  dead,  we  think,  cannot 
be  affected  in  any  manner  whether  we  hang  or  do 
not  hang  the  perpetrator  of  their  murder.  \  To  sim- 
ply say  that  a  murderer  deserves  to  die,  is  no  arguV 
ment  whv  he  should  die.  This  is  almost  the  orilv 

*  J 

argument  put  forward  deliberately  in  defense  of 
capital  punishment  at  the  present  day?  Many,  with- 
out taking  a  second  thought,  often,  on  hearing,  or 
reading,  of  a  terrible  crime  being  committed,  exclaim, 
"swing  up  the  scoundrel,"  "he  deserves  to  be  cut  to 
pieces,"  "  he  ought  to  be  hanged  by  the  heels."  Sim- 
ilar expressions  we  hear  every  day,  which  expressions 
we  conceive  to  be  utterly  wrong  if  made  a  reason  for 
continuing  the  death  penalty.  It  is  neither  more  or 
less  than  the  sentiment  of  gratified  vengeance ;  it  is 
a  vindictive  emanation,  unworthy  of  any  enlightened 
soul.  It  is  no  part  of  our  province  to  deal  out  the 


I5O  CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT. 

deserts  of  iniquity,  as  such.  The  rights  of  society 
do  not  include  this  power  of  rewarding  or  punishing 
the  individual  on  purely  moral  grounds.  Another 
says,  "with  the  abstract  rights  or  wrongs  of  human 
actions  society  has  nothing  to  do;  it  must  regard 
them  solely  as  beneficial  or  injurious  to  social  order, 
and  scrupulously  forbear  from  assigning  to  them 
either  reward  or  punishment  on  the  score  of  their 
moral  character."  A  murderer  may,  or  may  not,  de- 
serve to  be  hanged,  still  we  should  be  willing  to  trust 
to  God  for  the  proper  adjustment  of  man's  irrepara- 
ble wrongs. 
-, 

f  To  murder  is  an  irreparable  crime ;  we  cannot 
restore  life.  Can  society  repair  the  injury  by  legally 
taking  the  life  of  the  guilty  criminal  ?  or  by  a  second 
wrong-  act,  right  the  first  ?  If  it  is  wrong  to  murder 

o  '        o  o 

in  an  illegal  manner,  we  can  not  see  that  it  is  right  to 

o  o 

murder  in  a  legal  form  any  more  than  that  it  is  wrong 
v^to  steal  illegally,  but  right  to  steal  by  legal  action. 
.  j/^Reparation   is   the   second   object    of    law.     The 
'  punishment,  therefore,  should  be  in  accordance  with 
the  spirit   of  the  law,  which,  it  is  plain,  the   enforce- 
ment  of  the  death  penalty  is  not. 

We  deem  it  right  and  necessary  that  all  persons 
found  guilty  of  murder  in  the  first  degree  should  be 
put  in  prison  for  life,  without  the  prospect  of  being 
pardoned  out.  We  agree  with  the  sentiment  ex- 
pressed in  an  editorial  in  the  Chicago  Evening  Mail: 
44  We  do  not  see  any  better  reason  for  permitting 
the  executive  to  pardon  a  man  when  convicted  and 
sentenced  than  there  would  be  to  permit  the  same 
power  to  waive  both  trial  and  sentence.  With  the 


REFUTATION  OF  THE  DEATH  PENALTY. 

aid  of  counsel,  a  prisoner  usually  has  all  the  mitiga- 
ting circumstances  in  his  case  presented  with  ampli- 
tude and  power  to  the  jury.  Each  point  of  law  is 
acutely  analyzed  and  settled  before  the  presiding 
judge;  the  right  of  appeal  remains,  and  it  surely 
seems  that  when  all  the  guards  which  the  law  throws 
around  criminals  upon  trial  are  exhausted  and  a  final 
verdict  and  sentence  are  secured,  the  matter  should 
go  on  to  its  consummation." 

Those  found  guilty  of  murder  in  the  second  degree 
should  be  returned  to  imprisonment  for  life,  with  a 
pardoning  power  vested  in  the  jury  or  community 
which  finds  them  guilty.  This  we  believe  to  be  just, 
for  two  reasons.  First,  it  will  give  the  murderer 
some  opportunity  during  his  natural  life  to  reform, 
and  prepare  for  a  higher  life ;  and,  secondly,  it  will 
give  him  a  chance  to  make  at  least  partial  reparation 
for  the  great  wrongs  he  has  inflicted  upon  those  in- 
jured by  the  death  of  their  relative — father,  husband, 
wife,  sister,  or  brother. 

The  murderer's  prison,  as  well  as  the  reformatory 
prison,  can  be  so  conducted  that  a  considerable  profit 
will  be  made,  which  should  go  to  repair  the  injuries 
done  by  the  prisoner's  crime.  Where  no  relatives 
exist  to  receive  such  compensation,  the  profits  of  a 
murderer  should  go  to  sustain  some  benevolent  insti- 
tution. The  profits  of  the  convicts  in  the  reforma- 
tory prison,  should,  after  full  reparation  is  made,  be 
at  the  disposal  of  the  prisoner,  to  be  paid  to  his 
family,  or  other  needy  friends,  if  he  so  wills  it ;  or  it 
may  be  allowed  to  accumulate,  and  be  paid  to  the 
prisoner  when  he  has  satisfied  the  law,  and  is  entirely 


T52  CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT. 

cured  of  his  malady.  This  would  give  him  some- 
thing to  start  with  in  life  again,  and  would  be  an  im- 
petus without  which  he  might  feel  very  much  dis- 
couraged. 

If  the  death  penalty,  then,  is  neither  compensatory 
nor  reformatory, — and  so  far  all  will  agree  with  our 
mode  of  reasoning, — there  are  still 

OTHER  REASONS  - 

why  we  should  banish  this  barbarous  practice  from 
the  land. 

^/vVe  notice,  in  this  connection,  the  difficulty  in  the 
enforcement  of  the  terrible  penalty  of  death,  from 
the  fact  that  every  effort  is  put  forth  to  evade  the 
law,  and  save  the  life  of  the  criminal.  Thousands  of 
dollars  are  spent  in  trying  our  murderers,  both  by  the 
culprit  as  well  as  the  public,  and  a  new  trial  is  often 
granted  on  the  most  trivial  mistakes  in  the  pleadings 

\  on  either  side. 

V~It  generally  requires  from  one  to  two  years  to  de- 
cide whether  a  murderer  is  guilty,  and  whether  he 
shall  be  hung,  or  be  imprisoned, — all  owing  to  the 
penalty  being  unnatural  and  most  severe.  It  is  hard 
to  get  a  jury  to  agree  on  a  verdict  of  death,  unless 
the  criminal  is  very  unpopular,  and  the  party  mur- 
V^dered  of  some  standing  in  society.  Take,  for  exam- 
ple, the  Stokes,  Rafferty,  and  a  great  number  of  other 
cases  which  we  might  mention,  where  the  law  yet 
remains  uninforced  against  men  proven  guilty  of 
murder  in  the  first  degree.  Some  technical  flaw  is 
discovered  by  some  good  judge,  and  a  supersedeas  is 


REFUTATION  OF  THE  DEATH  PENALTY.     153 

granted,  only  to  prolong  the  life  of  a  fellow  being  for 
a  few  months,  or  perhaps  a  year.  It  is  due  to  the  fact 
of  the  penalty  being  too  severe,  that  men  hesitate, 
equivocate,  and  falter  in  their  power  to  inflict  it  until 
the  murderer  either  escapes,  or  the  farce  becomes  so 
tedious  that  it  is  finally  decided  to  execute.  Previous 
to  the  enforcement  of  the  penalty,  every  exertion  is 
made  to  obtain  a  reprieve  from  the  governor.  Of 
course,  a  man's  life  being  suspended  on  a  single 
thread,  it  becomes  a  matter  of  some  importance  how 
the  approach  shall  be  made,  and  what  arguments 
shall  be  put  forward.  With  the  governor,  it  is  a 
matter  wholly  technical.  He  considers  the  popu- 
larity or  unpopularity  of  the  case.  He  decides  in 
accordance  with  the  power  vested  in  him.  He  does 
not  inquire  upon  the  moral  right  or  wrong  in  regard 
to  killing  the  murderer  or  sending  him  to  prison  for 
life,  but  only  on  some  sharp  points  of  law.  The  best 
lawyer  comes  out  ahead.  All  are  actuated  by  the 
amouj  of.  money  to  be  made  out  of  the  case,  on  the  one 
hand,  and  on  the  other,  by  the  dread  of  enforcing  the 
extreme  penalty  of  the  law ;,  and  under  these  circum- 
stances justice  is  "shorn  threadbare,"  and  the  law  is 
almost  entirely  defeated.  Only  one  murder  out 
fifty  in  the  United  States  is  ever  executed  according 
to  the  law.  This  great  uncertainty  of  punishment^ 
increases  crime,  and  is  a  good  reason  why  capital 
punishment  should  be  entirely  abolished. 

Another  point  which  we  wish  to  consider  is  this"? 
(Life  we  can  not  give ;   hence  we  should  not  take  it) 
from  another.     In  case  of  fraudulent  or  circumstan- 
tial evidence,  upon  which  many  persons   have  been 


154  CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT. 

convicted  and  executed,  who  were  afterwards  found 
to  be  innocent,  the  mistake  is  so  irreparable  that  if 
one  innocent  person  is  put  to  death  once  in  a  hun- 
dred years,  it  is  sufficient  reason  why  the  death  pen- 
alty should  be  entirely  dispensed  with. 

In  the  state  of  Ohio,  a  few  years  ago,  it  was  possi- 
tively  asserted  that,  some  twenty  years  since,  they 
executed  a  man  for  murder,  who,  it  seems,  was  inno- 
cent. The  facts  came  out  by  the  dying  testimony  of 
an  old  man  who  died  in  the  neighborhood,  and  who, 
of  course,  would  not  criminate  himself,  and  therefore 
saw  his  neighbor  die  innocent. 

F.  E.  Abbot  remarks,  in  speaking  of  capital  pun- 
ishment, that  "it  is  a  punishment  which,  if  inflicted 
upon  the  innocent  through  mistake  or  perjury,  admits 
of  no  redress  ;  and  there  are  overwhelming  proofs 
that  it  has  often  been  inflicted  on  the  innocent." 

Victor  De  Tracy  said,  in  the  French  Chamber  of 
Deputies,  in  1828,  that  within  six  months  eleven  sen- 
tences of  death  were  reversed  by  the  higher  courts 
of  France,  for  errors  of  facts.  In  the  British  Parlia- 
ment Fitzroy  Kelly  said  that  fourteen  innocent  per- 
sons were  hanged  in  England  during  the  first  half  of 
the  present  century.  Another  eminent  jurist  adds  his 
testimony.  Daniel  O'Connell  makes  the  following 
statement :  "  I  myself  defended  three  brothers  who 
were  accused  of  murder.  I  saw  the  mother  clasp 
her  eldest  son,  who  was  but  twenty-two  years  of  age. 
I  saw  her  hang  on  her  second,  who  was  not  twenty. 
I  saw  her  faint  when  she  clung  to  the  neck  of  her 
youngest  boy,  who  was  but  eighteen.  They  were 
executed,  and  they  were  innocent!'  A  single  instance 


REFUTATION  OF  THE  DEATH  PENALTY.     155 

of  this  kind  is  sufficient  reason  for  abolishing  capital 
punishment  for  all  time  to  come.     It  is  sufficient  to 
arouse  every  human  heart  and  to  inspire  confidence 
and  hope  in  a  new  system  of  punishment.     We  i'rust 
not  wonder,  when  such    awful    mistakes  continually 
occur,  that  the  immortal  Lafayette  exclaimed,  in  18307^ 
in  the   French   Chamber  of  Deputies :    "  I  shall  de- 
mand the  abolition  of  the  death  penalty  until  I  have  / 
the  infallibility  of  human   judgement  proven  to  me^T" 
Or   that    King    Louis    Phillippi    exclaimed,  "  I  have 
detested  it  all    my  life   long."     Charles    Hugo   was 
fined  one  hundred  dollars  and  imprisoned  six  months 
for   publishing  the  following  in  his  paper,  after  the 
execution  of  Montcharmont,  although  defended  most 
eloquently  by  his  father,  Victor  Hugo:    "Whatever^ 
be  the  hand  that  commits  it,  homicide  is  never  moral 
teaching.      However  honest  and  conscientious  may 
be  your  tribunals  and  your  judges,  it  will  never  be  by 

killing  that  you  will  prove  'thou  must  not  kill/"       , 

The  celebrated  scholar  and  clergyman  of  Toledo, 
Ohio,  F.  E.  Abbot,  said  in  a  lecture  as  follows :  "  The 
growing  uneasiness  with  which  civilized  communities 
regard  the  death  penalty,  is  clearly,  in  my  opinion, 
occasioned  by  the  expanding  conscience  of  the  race, 
which  begins  to  realize  the  truth  that  no  maf|  is 
wholly  a  brute;  that  criminals  are  men,  and  that 
something  better  can  be  done  with  them  than  to 
stamp  their  life  out  under  the  heels  of  the  multitude. 
The  great  faith  in  man,  which  lies  at  the  root  of 

o 

American  civilization,  and  is  the  grand  inspiration  of 
free  religion,  begins  already  to  teach  the  individuality 
of  human  life,  and  to  throw  a  sacred  protection  even 


156  CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT. 

over  those  who  have  themselves  dared  to  violate  it. 
Yes,  society  is  slowly  learning  that  hardest  of  lessons, 
how  to  overcome  evil  with  good, — how  to  take  the 
desfferate  outcast  out  of  his  desperation,  and,  while 
restraining  him  from  further  evil,  to  melt  his  hard- 
ened heart  with  kindness  and  love." 

We  now  introduce  a  strange  question  which  per- 
haps the  reader  has  not  investigated,  and  which  is 
another  good  reason  against  inflicting  the  death 
penalty.  In  the  first  place,  we  assert  that  it  is  a 
question  whether  this  penalty  is  not  an  outrage,  as 
the  premature  time  of  death  is  in  violation  of  the 
laws  of  nature.  The  absolute  process  of  dying  is 
not  painful ;  it  is  a  natural  law,  and  nature  should, 
therefore,  be  allowed  to  assert  her  rights.  To  take 
nature's  work*  in  our  own  hands  and  inflict  death 
upon  one  of  our  fellow  beings,-whom  God  and  nature 
sees  proper  to  let  live  and  continue  to  supply  him 
with  the  necessary  elements  of  life,  until  he  has  run 
his  course,  is  like  a  mob  taking  the  work  of  the  law 
in  their  own  hands,  in  an  unlawful  manner,  inflicting 
the  death  penalty  by  "  lynching." 

It  is  as  natural  to  die  as  it  is  to  be  born ;  and  hence, 
when  death  absolutely  takes  hold  of  us,  we  are  un- 
conscious of  the  process  of  change  that  is  going  on. 
One  who  dies  a  natural  death  in  a  "green  old  age," 
brought  on  by  the  natural  course  of  things,  is  happy  in 
death.  Were  it  not  so,  nature  would  outrage  her 
children.  Those  who  '  bring  about  such  an  event 
prematurely,  by  living  in  disobedience  to  natural  laws, 
often  suffer  severely,  bodily  and  mentally,  during  the 
process  of  inducing  death  previous  to  the  actual  death, 


REFUTATION  OF  THE  DEATH  PENALTY.     157 

at  which  time  all  is  at  peace.  Those  who  are  exe- 
cuted suffer  severely  for  a  time  after  the  death  sen- 
tence is  pronounced  upon  them  ;  but  the  closer  the 
time  draws  near,  the  less  are  they  affected  by  the  idea 
of  death,  and  hence  we  have  an  obvious  reason  why 
criminals  walk  with  a  steady  step  on  the  gallows,  and 
face  death.  The  common  expression  is,  "  they  were 
of  good  pluck."  Our  people  who  delight  in  tragedies 
are  those  who  read  the  Police  Gazette,  and  similar 
papers, — gamblers  and  "jockey  fellows,"  who  all 
speak  of  such  coolness  in  meeting  this  death  as  a 
mark  of  heroism. 

When  death  is  the  only  alternative,  the  culprit  as- 
sumes an  air  of  indifference,  unless  he  is  innocent,  or 
his  spiritual  adviser  can  arouse  him  on  the  subject 
of  religion.  The  seven  notorious  horse-thieves,  who 
were  hung  in  public,  some  years  ago,  near  Cincinnati, 
Ohio,  requested  as  their  last  and  dying  privilege,  to 
smoke  a  cigar.  They  were  granted  their  last  request, 
and,  in  their  own  language,  "  were  having  a  jolly 
time  together."  While  they  were  yet  smoking,  the 
trap  fell,  and  each  swung  into  eternity.  In  nearly 
every  instance  of  those  who  are  executed,  we  learn 
that  they  all  sleep  well  the  night  previous,  eat  heartily 
at  breakfast,  and  are  in  every  way  much  less  con- 
cerned at  this  stage  of  their  fate,  than  those  who  are 
required  to  enforce  the  penalty  of  death.  Many 
meet  their  fate  with  malice  and  revenge  in  their 
heart,  as  did  the  murderer  at  Peoria,  111.,  a  few  weeks 
ago,  who  declared  his  innocence  to  the  last  moment 
of  his  life. 

If  the  object  of  the  death  penalty  is  to  torture  the 


158  CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT. 

criminal,  it  should  be  inflicted  within  the  space  of 
twice  twenty-four  hours  after  the  sentence  is  pro- 
nounced. Then  the  suffering  would  be  truly  great. 
If  it  is  argued  that  such  a  course  would  be  inhuman, 
and  that  it  is  much  easier  for  a  person  to  meet  death 
after  having  a  month's  time  for  preparation, — which 
is  a  truth, — we  ask,  would  it  not  be  better  to  give 
him  his  natural  lifetime  for  preparation  for  the  here- 
after, and  leave  him  to  meet  his  death  when  God 
and  nature  decrees  it  to  be  so.  Further,  we  ask 
whence  the  authority  for  a  judgie,  jury,  or  a  commu- 
nity to  say  to  a  condemned  man,  "  Make  your  peace 
with  God,  for  in  so  many  days  thou  wilt  be  hanged." 
By  what  method  has  it  been  ascertained  how  long  it 
takes  one  to  prepare  for  eternity?  Nature  and  God 
both  say  plainly  that  man  needs  a  natural  lifetime 
for  reformation ;  for  regeneration  is  a  growth,  and 
can  not  be  the  work  of  a  moment. 

The  notorious  highwayman  and  murderer,  John 
A.  Murrel,  once  met  a  poor  wood-chopper  in  the 
woods,  whom  he  requested  to  "  hand  over  his  money  ;" 
but  the  poor  man  declared  he  had  none,  and  that  he 
had  a  wife  and  eight  children  to  maintain.  The  rob- 
ber thinking  that  a  man  so  poor  as  that  had  better 
be  dead,  pulled  out  his  watch  and  pistol,  and  gave 
the  poor  man  five  minutes  to  make  his  peace  with 
God.  The  man  fell  upon  his  knees,  and  prayed 
aloud  for  himself  and  for  the  robber ;  but  the  robber 
kept  his  word,  and  shot.,  the  man  at  the.  end  of  five 
minutes.* 

*  See  the  Confession  of  Murrel. 


REFUTATION  OF  THE  DEATH  PENALTY.     159 

Now  there  was  as  much  propriety  in  giving  the 
wood-chopper  five  minutes  to  "  make  sure  his  salva- 
tion," as  it  was  for  the  judge  afterward  to  grant  Mur- 
rel  thirty  days  in  which  to  prepare  himself  for  Heaven  ; 
and  it  strikes  us  very  forcibly  that  the  poor  wood- 
chopper  accomplished  more  in  five  minutes  than  the 
notorious  murderer  could  in  a  lifetime.  The  very 
fact,  then,  that  it  seems  to  be  humane  to  give  a  crim- 
inal time  to  prepare  himself  for  eternity,  and  qualify 
himself  to  meet  death,  is  evidence  to  show  that  the 
death  penalty  is  unnatural  and  barbarous. 

It  may  be  further  held  that  imprisonment  for  life  is 
also  unnatural  and  barbarous.  We  answer,  it  is  the 
only  means  we  have  for  self-protection,  which  is  a 
law  of  nature.  It  is  an  evil,  we  admit,  but  one  exist- 
ing from  necessity.  So  long  as  society  neglects  the 
child  crime  will  be  cpmmitted,  and  so  long  as  crime 
and  murder  are  committed,  so  long  will  we  require 
prisons,  to  govern  those  who  are  incapable  of  self- 
government. 

Thus  far,  we  believe  our  reasoning  to  be  good,  and 
now,  before  we  close  this  chapter,  we  will  consider 
briefly  a  few  thoughts  more,  and  inquire  whether 
capital  punishment  is  an  act 

OF  CHRISTIAN  DUTY. 

The  primary  object  of  religious  teachings  are 
mainly  to  reform  those  W!TA  are  in  a  degenerated 
condition.  All  education  which  teaches  the  way  to 
happiness  is  reformatory,  and  this  is  the  work  of 
religious  organizations  and  Christian  educators.  The 


160  CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT. 

object  is  to  bring  sinners  to  repentance, — if  possible, 
to  lead  them  to  glory,  and  make  sure  their  salvation. 

This  can  not  be  done  by  enforcing  the  death  pen- 
alty, which,  we  have  already  shown,  is  also  a  direct 
violation  of  the  laws  of  nature,  and  consequently 
not  a  Christian  duty.  The  command  is, "  Thou  shalt 
not  kill."  Nowhere  in  the  New  Testament  is  capi- 
tal punishment  recommended  or  commanded.  Undei>- 
the  new  law  we  are  taught  to  obey  the  laws  of  the  ; 
government, — to  love  our  criniinals  rather  than 
despise  them,  and  "do  good  to  those  that  hate  us." 
Under  the  old  law,  it  was  taught  "  an  eye  for  an  eye 
and  a  tooth  for  a  tooth,  but  a  new  command  I  give 
unto  you,  love  one  another." 

"  Those  who  take  the  sword  shall  perish  by  the 
sword."  So  it  has  always  been.  The  best  swimmer 
will  sometimes  drown;  the  best  pugilist  is  sometimes 
whipped,  and  those  that  fight  with  the  sword  are  in 
danger  of  being  killed  by  the  sword.  So  we  see  that 
this  is  not  a  command  to  punish  by  hanging.  If  so, 
why  is  it  not  strictly  obeyed,  and  our  murderers  put 
to  death  in  the  same  manner  in  which  they  murder 
their  victims?  If  a  man  takes  the  sword,  he  should 
be  killed  by  the  sword,  and  not  hanged  by  the  neck. 
Under  the  old  law,  the  death  penalty  was  enforced 
by  stoning  the  culprit  to  death.  If  this  is  taken  as 
a  guide,  why,  then,  do  we  not  stone  our  murderers  to 
death  instead  of  hanging?  If  capital  punishment 
was  right  under  the  olc^aw,  why  was  it  repealed  un- 
der the  new  law  ? — "  A  new  command  I  give  unto 
you,  love  one  another."  If  it  were  right  and  pleasing 
in  the  sight  of  God  to  punish  capital  crime  by  hang- 


REFUTATION  OF  THE  DEATH  PENALTY.     l6l 

ing,  why  was  not  an  explicit  command  given  which 
all  men  could  read  and  understand  ?  The  truth  is, 
we  are  commanded  to  obey  the  law;  but  it  was  not 
decreed  that  law  shall  not  be  so  changed  and  amended 
as  to  meet  the  necessary  demands  of  every  age,  na- 
tion, or  country.  We  are  also  taught  that  "  a  mur- 
jierer  can  not  enter  the  kingdom  of  Heaven." 

This  we  believe  to  be  scientifically  true,  whether  a 
murderer  in  heart  or  indeed.  So  loner  as  we  have 

o 

murder  in  our  heart  we  are  in  a  terrible  state  of 
discord,  and  can  not  attain  to  a  state  of  harmony  so 
long  as  this  discord  exists.  In  those  who  have  car- 
ried out  the  desire  of  their  hearts,  and  actually  mur- 
dered in  deed,  the  discord  is  still  greater,  and  they 
are  also  further  from  a  state  of  harmony,  or,  in  other 
words,  Heaven.  Now,  if  "  a  murderer  cannot  enter 
into  the  kingdom  of  Heaven,"  then,  of  course,  he  is 
doomed  to  share  the  sufferings  and  sorrows  of  the 
opposite  condition,  termed  hell,  which  is  a  condition 
the  poor  victim  may  outgrow  in  this  life,  by  making 
use  of  proper  means;  and  after  he  is  regenerated 
even  a  murderer  may  enter  into  a  heavenly  state,  but 
he  can  never  get  there  having  murder  in  his  heart. 

Now,  if  it  is  necessary  for  murderers  to  outgrow 
these  conditions  before  they  can  enter  into  a  state  of 
happiness,  and  if  it  is  also  true  that  there  can  be  no 
repentance  hereafter,  then  we  ask,  is  it  a  Christian 
duty,  or  an  act  of  charity  to  send  a  man  to  hell  by 
inflicting  the  death  penalty  ?  This  deprives  him  of 
life,  time,  earthly  means,  and  the  grace  of  God 
operating  through  these  means  in  the  conversion  of 
his  soul.  It  may  be,  however,  affirmed  that  it  is 

n 


1 62  CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT. 

possible  for  this  conversion  to  take  place  during  the 
probationary  time  between  the  sentence  of  the  felon 
and  the  time  of  his  execution.  If  this  were  possible, 
however,  we  still  more  strongly  than  ever  persist  in 
abolishing  capital  punishment ;  for  as  soon  as  a  man 
is  regenerated,  and  a  converted  sinner,  he  is  quite 
good  enough  to  live, and  even  to  have  his  liberty.  It 
is  evident  that  it  is  not  a  Christian  duty  to  enforce 
the  death  penalty  as  a  punishment  for  capital  crime. 
It  is  not  reformatory;  it  is  not  compensatory;  it  is 
very  uncertain,  thus  encouraging  crime.  Lastly,  it  is 
not  in  keeping  with  the  spirit  of  the  Christian  religion, 
the  teachings  of  science,  of  God  and  nature,  and  is 
an  outrage,  disgraceful  and  unworthy  of  an  enlight- 
ened civilized  Christian  nation. 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

ON    THE    DEATH    PENALTY    AS    A    PREVENTIVE  MEASURE 
OF    FUTURE    CRIME.      IS    SOCIETY    THEREBY 
PROTECTED,    AND    SHALL    WE    CON- 
TINUE   TO    KILL? 

In  the  previous  chapter,  we  presented  a  number  of 
important  questions  for  the  consideration  of  our 
readers,  and  we  believe  that  what  has  been  said  is 
conclusive  and  convincing.  So  far,  we  have  not  dis- 
covered the  slightest  reason  which  might  be  brought 
in  defence  of  punishing  crime  by  death.  The  justi- 
fiable objects,  as  we  have  already  stated  in  previous 
chapters,  for  the  infliction  of  penalties  are  three, — 
reformation  of  the  criminal,  reparation  of  the  in- 
jured party,  and  the  prevention  of  future  crime.  The 
death  penalty  can  neither  reform  the  criminal  nor 
repair  injuries  done  to  those  who  are  murdered ;  its 
only  possible  justification  must,  therefore,  be  the 
prevention  of  future  crime.  The  whole  question  of 
defense  of  capital  punishment  must  turn  on  this  one 
point.  It  is  to  this  part  of  the  subject  we  propose 
to  devote  the  present  chapter,  and  discuss  the  merits 
and  demerits  of  capital  punishment  as  a  preventive 
measure.  We  admit  that  "  dead  men  tell  no  tales," 
and  that  the  dead  can  never  commit  crime.  But  we 
can  not  admit  that,  with  the  present  knowledge  we 
have  of  mechanics  and  architectural  science,  we  are 

163 


164  CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT. 

not  competent  to  construct  a  suitable  prison  for  the 
safe  keeping  of  murderers  as  well  as  other  criminals. 
Then,  if  it  is  argued  further  that  under  nearly  all 
circumstances  they  are  liable  to  escape  and  flee  from 
justice,  we  reply  that  we  are  about  as  willing  to  risk 
the  liberty  of  a  man  guilty  of  murder  in  the  first  de- 
gree as  one  convkted  of  murder  in  the  second  degree, 
or  a  base,  low,  unregenerated,  ignorant  vagabond, 
who  is  liberated  after  a  few  months'  penal  service, 
unreformed,  and,  in  many  instances,  better  qualified 
to  commit  crime  than  before — thanks  to  the  manner 
in  which  our  prisons  are  conducted  at  the  present 
time.  Then  there  can  be  no  reasonable  argument 
offered  on  the  score  that,  the  prisoner  being  liable  to 
escape  from  prison,  society  is  left  unprotected.  A 
mere  possibility  in  the  course  of  a  lifetime  of  such 
an  occurrence  taking  place,  ought  not  to  cause  us  to 
act  in  a  recklessly  inhuman  manner  at  the  present,  by 
inflicting  the  death  penalty. 

We  think  that  imprisonment  for  life  is  a  sure  pre- 
ventive of  further  crime,  and  a  sufficient  protection 
to  society,  at  least  so  far  as  the  condemned  is  con- 
cerned ;  for  it  certainly  restrains  him  in  his  murder- 
ous course, 

In  the  next  place,  we  will  consider  whether  the 
death  penalty  is  a  protection  and  means  of  prevention 
of  further  crime,  by  creating  a  terror  or  fear,  as  it  is 
held.  We  often  hear  it  remarked,  "  Were  it  not  for 
the  death  penalty,  more  people  would  be  murdered." 

If  this  is  correct  reasoning,  we  would  suggest  that 
the  means  by  which  such  fear  is  created  be  made 
available  to  all  persons,  and  of  every  age,  by  hanging 


SHALL    WE   CONTINUE   TO    KILL?  165 

being  made  as  public  as  possible.  On  the  day  of 
execution  let  all  places  of  business  be  closed,  and  the 
community  en  masse  attend,  and  look  on  the  felon  as 
he  swings  into  eternity.  Let  the  gallows  be 
erected  in  the  most  public  place,  and  on  an  elevated 
platform,  so  that  thousands  may  be  permitted  to  be- 
hold and  drink  in  the  elixir  of  terror,  that  they  may 
fear  the  law,  and  be  deterred  from  committing  such  a 
terrible  deed  as  to  take  the  life  of  a  human  being. 
This  mode  of  teaching  and  reforming  would,  we 
think,  like  all  other  teaching,  need  to  be  repeated 
frequently  that  people  might  bear  it  in  mind.  For 
one  to  acquire  any  of  the  branches  of  education, 
most  studious  habits  and  daily  application  is  neces- 
sary ;  so  perhaps  it  would  be  well  to  hang  pretty 
often,  in  order  that  this  means  of  prevention  of 
crime  be  successful.  If  no  criminals  are  on  hand, 
pick  up  any  one\who  has  no  means  of  support,  or 
one  who  is  of  little  use  to  society,  and  make  a  sacri- 
fice of  him  for  the  "  good  of  the  people,"  that  it  may 
be  now  as  it  was  eighteen  hundred  years  ago  when 
it  was  considered  necessary  that  some  one  "  should 
die  for  the  people." 

"  Death  with  torture  is  now  universally  disused ;  and 
the  punishment  inflicted  is  simply  the  extinction  of 
life  ignominiously.  Little  importance  attaches  to  the 
ignominy  as  a  deterring  influence :  First,  because  the 
mind  that  will  brave  death  itself,  will  not  be  much 
influenced  by  the  attendant  circumstances ;  secondly, 
because,  by  destroying  life,  the  consciousness  of  igno- 
miny and  of  every  other  emotion  is  extinguished ; 
and,  thirdly,  because  the  same  amount  of  ignominy,  if 


1 66  CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT. 

it  were  necessay,  might  easily  be  inflicted  without  the 
accompaniment  of^  death.  Simple  death,  therefore, 
remains  as  the  staple  of  the  punishment.  Now,  by 
the  ordination  of  God,  we  are  all  under  the  sentence 
of  death.  The  clergy  admonish  us  to  bear  it  habit- 
ually in  mind,  and  to  prepare  for  it ;  the  warrior 
is  praised  for  disregarding  it ;  and  the  philosopher 
glories  in  resigning  himself  to  it  with  cheerfulness 
and  equanimity ;  and  I  ask,  on  what  principle,  con- 
sistently with  these  views,  can  its  infliction  be  justi- 
fied as  a  punishment — as  the  most  terrible  of 
calamities — as  that  which  is  to  restrain  the  reckless, 
excited,  daring  villain,  after  he  has  become  insensible 
to  all  other  earthly  motives  ?  He  may  tell  the  jury 
which  convicts  him,  and  the  judge  who  condemns  him, 
that  they  also  are  under  sentence  of  death,  and  that 
the  brief  space  of  time  which  will  elapse  between  the 
execution  of  the  sentence  on  him  and  them,  is  no 
very  formidable  consideration  to  his  disadvantage. 
Such  a  remark  would  be  justified  by  religion,  sup- 
ported by  philosophy,  and  sympathized  with  by  men 
of  courage  who  were  neither  religious  nor  philosophi- 
cal. How,  then,  I  again  ask,  can  we  reconcile  such 
heterogeneous  modes  of  viewing  the  most  important 
event  of  our  mortal  existence?  If  all  who  should 
not  be  put  to  death  for  crime  were  naturally  immortal 
in  this  world,  I  could  understand  the  consistency  of 
depriving  a  criminal  of  life,  as  the  acme  of  human 
infliction  ;  but  in  our  actual  condition,  it  appears  to 
be  not  only  barbarous,  but  immoral  and  irreligious 
to  do  so.  If  we  value  moral  consistency  as  of  any 
importance  in  criminal  legislation,  we  shall  be  led  to 


SHALL    WE   CONTINUE    TO    KILL?  167 

abandon  the  notion  that  death  is  the  most  awful  of 
punishments,  and  regard  it  simply  as  an  institution  of 
a  great  and  merciful  God,  to  be  encountered  with 
courage  and  constancy  at  the  call  of  duty,  to  be  pre- 
pared for  by  the  aid  of  religion,  and  to  be  submitted 
to  with  calmness  and  resignation,  when  it  comes  to 
us  in  the  course  of  Providence."* 

As  the  author  is  penning  the  present  paragraph, — 
one  o'clock  P.  M.,  Friday,  March  14th,  1873, — George 
Driver,  in  this  city,  and  Osborne,  at  Knoxville,  111., 
are  being  executed  for  murder.  This  very  moment 
tne  trap  falls  ;  and  as  we  look  out  on  the  street,  we 
see  the  usual  busy  throng.  No  one  seems  to  know 
or  think  for  a  moment  that  two  souls  are  being 
swung  into  eternity  for  the  good  of  humanity — for 
the  prevention  of  crime.  We  ask  why  this  indiffer- 
ence on  the  part  of  the  people?  If  capital  punish- 
ment is  to  be  a  lesson,  why  not  by  law  cause  the 
bells  to-be  tolled  during  the  dreadful  hour  of  death, 
business  to  be  suspended,  and  worship  ordered  in  all 
public  halls  and  churches, — and  let  all  "enter  into 
their  closets "  and  humiliate  in  silence.  After  the 
hour  of  humiliation  and  prayer,  let  the  community 
gather  together  and  march  in  procession,  the  band 
playing  some  funeral  dirge,  and  thus  follow  the  felon 
to  a  suitable  place  of  execution,  and  cause  him  there 
to  expiate  his  crime.  If  capital  punishment  is  to 
deter  and  thus  to  prevent  future  murder,  why  not 
give  the  community  the  full  benefit  of  it  ? 

If  the  death  penalty  was  inflicted  in  the  manner 
we  suggest,  then  there  might  be  some  hope  of  deriv- 

*  George  Combe,  on  Capital  Punishment/ 


1 68  CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT. 

ing  some  good  to  mankind  from  an  execution.  His- 
tory shows  that  when  criminals  were  publicly  executed, 
murders  were  often  committed  before  the  crowd  was 
dispersed.  Near  Covington,  Ky.,  a  few  years  ago, 
two  murders  were  committed  inside  of  an  hour  after 
a  public  execution.  The  Rev.  I.  Roberts  ascertained 
that  out  of  1 68  condemned  criminals,  all  but  three 
had  witnessed  executions.  Observations  made  by 
Buxton  go  to  prove  that  it  is  notorious  that  execu- 
tions very  rarely  take  place  without  being  the  occasion 
of  new  crimes.  Dr.  Forden,  who  was  largely  ac- 
quainted with  criminals,  makes  the  same  report.  He 
says :  "  An  execution  makes  no  more  impression 
than  a  fly."  We  have  overwhelming  facts  which  show 
how  little  power  there  is  in  these  sickening  spectacles 
to  deter  from  crime.  Executions,  whether  public  or 
private,  are  of  no  use  either  for  punishing  criminals 
or  deterring  others.  We  would  almost  be  willing  to 
wager  though  an  execution  takes  place  to-day  in  our 
city,  that  before  the  morrow's  sun  a  murder — or  at 
least  an  attempt — will  take  place.  Each  day  our 
newspapers  report  murders  and  tragedies  in  all  parts 
of  the  country,  averaging  about  ten  to  twelve  a  day, 
making  in  the  aggregate  about  four  thousand  each 
year  in  this  comparativelyChristianized  United  States. 
"  Every  execution,"  said  Dr.  Lushington,  in  the  House 
of  Lords,  "  brings  an  additional  candidate  for  the 
hangman."  Those  who  are  sufficiently  depraved  to 
commit  murder  are  also  prepared  to  hold  death  in 
perfect  contempt.  This,  with  the  hope  of  escaping 
the  uncertain  penalty,  takes  away  almost  entirely  the 
force  of  the  penalty.  A  notorious  pirate  said  to  his 


SHALL    WE   CONTINUE    TO    KILL?  169 

comrade,  while  they  were  undergoing  the  torture  of 
the  wheel,  "  Why  do  you  make  all  this  noise  ?  Did 
you  not  know  that  in  our  profession  we  were  subject 
to  one  more  malady  than  the  rest  of  the  world  ?"  It 
is  reported  as  a  matter  of  history  that  in  1822,  John 
Lechler  was  hung  at  Lancaster,  Pa.,  for  murder.  The 
very  same  evening  one  Wilson,  who  had  been  present, 
met  a  weaver  named  Burns,  with  whom  he  had  some 
misunderstandings,  and  murdered  him  on  their  way 
home  from  witnessing  the  execution  of  Lechler.  He 

o 

was  arrested  and  handcuffed  with  the  irons  hardly 
yet  cold  from  the  wrist  of  John  Lechler,  who  had 
that  same  day  been  executed.  An  Irishman,  exe- 
cuted for  forgery,  was  given  back  to  his  family,  and 
while  his  wife  was  lamenting  over  him,  a  young  man 
came  to  her  to  purchase  some  forged  notes.  For- 
getting her  grief,  she  was  selling  him  some,  when, 
being  surprised  by  the  officers,  she  thrust  the  notes, 
in  her  alarm,  into  the  mouth  of  the  corpse,  where  the 
officers  found  them.  So  much  for  the  example  of  her 
husband's  fate.  The  influence  of  the  last  speeches 
of  criminals  go  directly  to  show  that  there  exists  a 
morbid  appetite  which  Jeads  to  crime.  Our  daily 
papers,  the  day  after  an  execution,  meet  with  far  better 
sales  than  before.  An  English  paper  states  that  from 
one  and  a  half  to  two  and  a  half  millions  of  copies 
were  sold  of  each  of  the  penny  narratives  of  the  exe- 
cutions of  Rush,  the  Mannings,  Courvosier,  Good, 
Conder  and  Grenacre.  This  class  of  literature,  doubt- 
less stimulates  and  feeds  the  tendency  to  crime  by 
exciting  appeals  to  the  imagination. 

The  evils   of  public  executions  become  so    great 


I  70  CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT. 

and  disgusting,  and  their  pernicious  effects  so  appa- 
rent, that  private  executions  have  now  nearly  every- 
where taken  their  place.  Yet  this  change  does  not 
improve  the  moral  lesson,  as  it  was  thought  it  would, 
by  doing  away  with  that  very  publicity  and  disgrace- 
ful spectacle  always  attending  public  executions. 
The  change,  however,  proves  clearly  that  society  is 
secretly  ashamed  of  its  own  proceedings,  and  makes 
a  gradual  approach  to  total  abolition  of  the  death 
penalty. 

It  can  not  be  successfully  shown  that  capital  pun- 
ishment deters  people  from  committing  crime  or 
murder.  Punishing  by  inflicting  the  death  penalty 
has  been  practiced  since  the  world's  history,  and  it 
would  seem  by  this  time,  if  it  is  such  a  potent  means 
of  prevention,  murder  should  be  almost  unknown. 
The  fact  is,  nearly  all  murders  are  perpetrated  under 
the  influence  of  a  terrible  force — an 

OVER-STIMULATED 

condition.  Under  the  influence  of  whisky,  anger  and 
revenge  are  variously  superinduced ;  and  often  men 
murder  and  are  unconscious  of  the  fact  until  some 
time  afterward,  when  sanity  is  restored.  This  is  one 
reason  why  so  few  murderers  make  their  escape. 
Under  these  influences  men  are  not  afraid  to  die. 
Driver,  the  wife  murderer,  said,  "  God  knows,  I  never 
had  any  intention  of  killing  her  ;  I  did  not  get  the 
pistol  for  that  purpose ;  it  was  all  the  impulse  of  a 
moment."  Again,  he  said,  "It  was  whisky  that 
brought  me  upon  the  gallows."  His  dying  advice  to 


SHALL    WE    CONTINUE    TO    KILL/  171 

all  was,  "  Let  whisky  alone."  The  Peoria  murderer 
declared  his  innocence  to  the  last.  Doubtless  he 
was  under  the  influence  of  liquor  at  the  time  he  in- 
jured his  wife.  As  a  rule,  we  are  safe  in  stating  that 
nine  out  of  every  ten  murders  are  committed  under 
some  uncontrollable  and  irresistible  force  at  the 
time  which  knows  no  reason.  Under  the  influence 
of  excitement, — the  thoughts  of  patriotism,  fame, 
victory,  the  stimulus  of  an  encouraging  speech  from 
the  general,  and  the  music  of  fife  and  drum, — men 
are  lead  to  the  cannon's  mouth  in  time  of  battle. 
Under  these  influences  men  fear  not  death. 

Those  who,  by  education,  and  the  influence  of  un- 
favorable surroundings,  acquire  a  constitutional  pre- 
disposition to  murder,  are  only  stimulated  in  their 
evil  propensities  by  seeing  a  man  hung.  Two  years 
ago,  while  a  young  man  was  arraigned  in  the  court  at 
Cincinnati  for  murder,  his  brother  attempted  to  mur- 
der one  of  the  important  witnesses  on  the  stairway 
that  led  to  the  court-room,  while  the  court  was  in 
session.  Notwithstanding  the  death  penalty,  and  the 
policeman  standing  at  the  head  of  the  stairway,  who 
was  at  hand  to  arrest  him,  and  whom  he  saw,  still  the 
terrible  feeling  of  revenge  against  this  prosecuting 
witness  was  greater  than  all.  Having  no  capacity  to 
control  his  feelings,  he  began  the  work  of  murder. 

It  is  not  the  dread  of  law  and  the  punishment  at- 
tending crime  that  will  prevent  murder.  It  is  the 
placing  of  a  high  estimate  on  human  life.  The  greater 
elevation  attained  by  any  people  in  the  scale  of  civil- 
ization, the  more  value  will  be  put  on  life.  The 
Empress  Elizabeth  abolished  it  in  Russia,  declaring, 


172  CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT 

"  Experience  demonstrates  that  capital  punishment 
never  yet  made  men  better."  Her  successor,  the  great 
Catharine,  adopted  this  reform  in  her  code  of  laws 
and  remarked  to  Count  de  Sigur,  "We  must  punish 
crime  without  imitating  it.  The  punishment  by  death 
is  rarely  anything  but  a  useless  barbarity."  We  labor 
for  the  abolition  of  this  great  evil,  the  barbarous 
practice  of  putting  criminals  to  death ;  and  in  this 
the  author  does  not 

STAND  ALONE. 

Thousands  of  the  best  minds  are  with  us,  on  this 
subject.  The  eminent  jurist,  John  Bright,  writes  as 
follows : 

ROCHDALE,  January  5,  1868. 
H.  M.  BOVER,  Esq., 

"  Dear  Sir, — I  do  not  think  the  punishment  of  death  is  neces- 
sary to  the  security  and  well-being  of  society ;  and  I  believe  its 
total  abolition  would  not  tend  to  increase  those  crimes  which  it  is 
now  supposed  by  many  to  prevent.  The  security  and  well-being 
of  society  do  not  depend  on  the  severity  of  punishments.  Bar- 
barism in  the  law  promotes  barbarism  among  those  subject  to  the 
law ;  and  acts  of  cruelty  under  the  law  become  examples  of  sim- 
ilar acts  contrary  to  the  law.  The  real  security  for  human  life  is 
to  be  found  in  a  reverence  for  it.  If  the  law  regarded  it  as  in- 
violable, then  the  people  would  begin  also  so  to  regard  it.  A 
deep  reverence  for  human  life  is  worth  more  than  a  thousand 
executions  in  the  prevention  of  murder,  and  is,  in  fact,  the  great 
security  for  human  life.  The  law  of  capital  punishment,  whilst 
pretending  to  support  this  reverence,  does,  in  fact,  tend  to  destroy 
it.  If  the  death  penalty  is  of  any  force  in  any  case  to  deter  from 
crime,  it  is  of  much  more  force  in  lessening  our  chief  security 
against  it,  for  it  proclaims  the  fact  that  kings,  parliaments,  judges, 
and  juries  may  determine  when  and  how  men  may  be  put  to 


SHALL    WE    CONTINUE    TO    KILL?  173 

death  by  violence,  and  familiarity  with  this  idea  cannot  strengthen 
the  reverence  for  human  life.  To  put  men  to  death  for  crimes, 
civil  or  political,  is  to  give  proof  of  weakness  rather  than  strength, 
and  of  barbarism  rather  than  Christian  civilization.  If  the 
United  States  could  get  rid  of  the  gallows,  it  would  not  stand  long 
here.  One  by  one,  we  "  Americanize"  our  institutions ;  and,  I 
hope,  in  all  that  is  good,  we  may  not  be  unwilling  to  follow  you. 
I  am  very  truly  yours,"  JOHN  BRIGHT. 

The  eminent  lawyer  and  jurist,  Edward  Livingston, 
in  his  arguments  against  capital  punishment,  published 
in  the  introduction  to  the  criminal  code  of  Louisiana, 
in  1820  and  1824,  remarks  : 

"It  (the  necessity  of  taking  life)  exists  between  nations  during 
war, — or  a  nation  and  one  of  its  component  parts  in  a  rebellion 
or  insurrection, — or  between  individuals  during  the  moment  of  an 
attempt  against  life  which  cannot  otherwise  be  repelled ;  but  be- 
tween society  and  individuals,  organized  as  the  former  now  is, 
with  all  the  means  of  repression  and  self-defence  at  its  command, 
never.  I  come,  then,  to  the  conclusion  in  which  I  desire  most 
explicitly  to  be  understood,  that,  although  the  right  to  punish 
with  death  might  be  abstractedly  conceded  to  exist  in  certain 
societies  and  under  certain  circumstances  which  might  make  it 
necessary,  yet,  composed  as  society  now  is,  these  circumstances 
can  not  reasonably  be  even  supposed  to  occur ;  that,  therefore, 
no  necessity,  and  of  course  no  right,  to  inflict  death  as  a  punish- 
ment, exists." 

F.  E.  Abbot,  a  celebrated  clergyman  and  author, 
whom  we  have  already  referred  to,  comes  in  strong 
support  of  what  we  have  aimed  to  impress  upon  the 
minds  of  our  readers : 

"  Highly  as  I  value  human  life,  it  is  not,  in  my  estimation, 
above  all  price :  freedom  is  worth  more,  honor  is  worth  more, 
virtue  is  worth  more,  country  is  worth  more,  the  welfare  of  the 
race  is  worth  more,  great  ideas  are  worth  more.  Fc*- 


174  CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT. 

these,  a  man  will  cheerfully  sacrifice  his  life ;  and  to  preserve 
them,  nations  and  communities  are  summoned  to  sacrifice  the 
lives  of  their  children.  But  nevertheless,  life  is  worth  more  in 
proportion  as  the  race  becomes  civilized;  and,  in  fact,  the  value 
set  on  human  life  is  one  of  the  chief  criteria  of  the  elevation  at- 
tained by  any  people  in  the  scale  of  civilization.  Savages  fling  it 
away  in  mere  pastime ;  but  the  wise  man  would  not  die  as  the 
fool  dies.  A  high^reverence  for  human  life  is  so  priceless  in  its 
influence  on  social  well-being,  that  every  means  may  well  be 
taken  to  enhance  it  in  the  community.  It  is  precisely  because 
the  death  penalty  cheapens  human  life,  breaks  down  the  guards 
of  its  sancity  in  popular  estimation,  that  capital  punishment,  the 
moment  it  ceases  to  be  absolutely  necessary,  immediately  becomes 
an  enormous  outrage.  At  the  very  best,  it  is  a  necessary  evil  in 
certain  disorganized  states  of  society ;  but  in  every  organized 
community,  it  is  a  demoralizing  agency  of  fearful  power.  The 
people  that  permits  legalized  murder  when  other  penalties  would 
better  accomplish  the  same  end,  educates  its  children  to  blood- 
shed, and  wilfully  fosters  crime  in  its  own  borders. 

"  For  proof  of  this  statement,  one  need  but  consider  the  effect 
of  public  executions.  The  sight  of  bloodsheddihg  exercises  a 
terrible  influence  on  the  imagination.  I  saw,  a  year  or  two  ago, 
in  the  daily  papers  an  account  of  a  little  boy  of  nine  years,  who, 
having  seen  his  father  kill  and  dress  several  hogs,  afterward  in- 
duced his  younger  brother  to  play  at  killing  hogs,  and  murdered 
him  in  the  horrid  sport.  The  school-master  at  Newgate,  Eng- 
land, says  that  *  he  has  seen  his  pupils,  before  the  bodies  of  crim- 
inals were  taken  down  from  the  scaffold,  play  the  scene  over  again, 
one  acting  the  convict  and  the  other  the  hangman.'  The  famous 
Volney,  just  after  the  French  revolution,  relates  that  he  was  deep- 
ly affected  at  seeing  crowds  of  children  amuse  themselves  with 
chopping  off  the  heads  of  cats  and  chickens,  in  imitation  of  the 
dreadful  scenes  of  the  guillotine  which  had  then  grown  infrequent : 
— '  Even  childhood  had  become  inured  to  scenes  of  blood,  and 
imitated  the  most  frightful  tragedies  for  sport.' " 

"  Jas.  Montgomery,  aged  1 1  years,  while  playing  at 
hanging  Foster,  yesterday,  at  the  residence  of  his 
parents,  in  Brooklyn,  strangled  himself." — Tribune. 


SHALL    WE    CONTINUE    TO    KILL/  175 

The  good  Rev.  W.  H.  Thomas,  of  the  City  of 
Chicago,  in  a  sermon  on  the  subject  of  "  Hanging," 
preached  the  Sabbath  after  Driver's  execution,  speaks 
in  clear  and  pointed  terms,  and  comes  in  strong  sup- 
port of  our  position.  We  give  his  own  words : 

"The  occasion  could  not  pass  without  bringing  up  in  many 
minds  the  old  question  whether  hanging  is  the  best  thing  society 
can  do  with  a  convicted  murderer.  All  are  agreed  that  whilst  the 
law  makes  death  by  hanging  the  penalty  for  murder,  it  should  be 
executed ;  but  all  are  not  agreed  that  this  is  the  best  law  in  such 
cases.  It  will  hardly  be  claimed  that  it  rests  upon  any  command 
of  the  scriptures,  although  they  may  be  quoted  as  authorizing  the 
death  penalty,  for  they  make  death  the  penalty  for  some  fourteen 
other  and  minor  offenses,  such  as  blasphemy,  man-stealing,  adul- 
tery, witchcraft,  etc.  Surely  no  one  would  claim  that  we  are  un- 
der that  law.  Nor  will  it  be  justified  on  the  ground  that  hanging 
is  the  only  punishment  that  will  satisfy  the  claims  of  justice. 
This  kind  of  administration  belongs  to  God.  The  idea  of  punish- 
ment in  human  laws  is  not  retributive,  but  administrative,  or  for 
the  protection  of  society.  And  the  one  question  is,  can  this  be 
secured  as  well,  or  better,  by  some  other  means.  We  think  it  can. 
It  is  found  in  experience  that  it  is  almost  impossible  to  secure  the 
conviction  and  execution  of  a  murderer.  Every  possible  techni- 
cality of  the  law  is  exhausted,  involving  long  delays,  and  keeping 
the  subject  painfully  before  the  public,  and  then,  if  conviction  is 
secured  and  sentence  passed,  the  pardoning  power  is  importuned 
in  every  conceivable  way  for  extension  of  time  or  commutation 
of  sentence.  Now  it  seems  to  me  that  there  is  something  sadly 
wrong,  either  in  the  law  itself,  or  in  its  administration.  The  very 
element  most  essential  for  the  prevention  of  crime,  that  is,  cer- 
tainty of  speedy  punishment,  is  to  a  very  great  extent  lost.  The 
penalty  of  hanging  is  so  great  that  it  defeats  itself  by  the  difficulty 
of  its  execution.  A  murderer  runs  about  as  many  risks  of  being 
killed  by  accident  as  he  does  of  being  hung.  And  when  at  long 
intervals  some  wretch  is  executed,  it  is  not  at  all  certain  that  the 
effect  upon  the  hardened  portions  of  the  community  is  either 


176  CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT. 

deep  or  lasting.  What  was  the  result  last  Friday  ?  When  was 
there  seen  such  a  crowd  of  the  very  worst  characters  ?  And  as 
they  hung  around  the  jail,  from  morning  till  nearly  night,  feeding 
their  coarse,  fiendish  natures  on  the  thoughts  of  human  suffering, 
the  day  seemed  to  them  more  as  a  holiday  than  the  solemn  ad- 
ministration of  justice.  Who  can  say  they  were  either  bettered 
in  their  natures,  or  deterred  from  crime  by  the  experiences  of 
that  day  ?  Then  the  effect  upon  the  public  at  large  is,  to  say  the 
least,  not  pleasant.  Was  there  a  thoughtful  man  or  woman  in 
this  vast  city  that  spent  the  -hour  from  i  to  2  o'clock  without  pain- 
ful feelings  ?  To  those  who  witnessed  the  execution,  the  scene 
was  trying  to  the  last  degree.  If  such  things  occur,  we  can  not 
blame  the  press  for  publishing  them,  but  it  is  certainly  not  good 
for  the  public  morals  to  be  so  constantly  occupied  with  the  de- 
tails of  crime  and  trials  and  punishment.  It  has  come  to  be  the 
larger  part  of  our  daily  reading.  Were  the  penalty  different,  so 
much  attention  could  not  be  called  to  these  cases. 

"  The  public  good  demands  speedy,  straightforward  trials  on  the 
merits  of  the  case,  and  then  where  found  guilty  I  would  substitute 
certain  imprisonment  for  life  in  place  of  hanging.  This  imprison- 
ment should  be  in  a  separate  department  of  the  penitentiary, 
constructed  especially  for  murderers,  and  the  pardoning  power 
should  be  taken  from  the  executive,  and  placed  in  nothing  less 
than  the  unanimous  vote  of  both  branches  of  the  legislature,  and 
with  these  only  in  cases  where  the  absolute  innocence  of  the  con- 
vict is  proven.  This  right  to  pardon,  in  any  case,  is  a  constant 
source  of  perplexity  and  annoyance  to  governors,  and  in  all  cases 
holds  out  the  hope  of  pardon  to  offenders  of  all  grades,  greatly 
weakens  the  dread  of  punishment,  and  thereby  encourages  crime. 
This  certain  imprisonment  for  life  at  hard  work  would  protect  so- 
ciety from  any  fear  of  danger  from  the  murderer,  and  would,  I 
think,  have  a  greater  influence  in  preventing  murder  than  the 
present  uncertainty  of  hanging,  and  the  usually  long  term  of  such 
convicts  would  make  their  labor  profitable  to  the  state,  and  the 
profits  might  go  to  support  those  left  dependant  by  their  crime." 


SHALL   WE   CONTINUE   TO    KILL?  177 

If  it  were  further  necessary  to  convince  our  read- 
ers of  the  rationale  of  our  position,  by  giving  the 
opinion  of  others,  we  might  fill  ten  volumes  with  the 
names  of  good  men  and  women  throughout  the 
United  States,  who  are  in  favor  of  abolishing  capital 
punishment.  We  proceed,  however,  to  notice  further 
the  effects  which  the  excessive  penalty  of  death  has 
on  the  criminal,  on  the  friends  of  the  criminal,  and 
the  community  in  general.  We  have  shown  that  it 
does  not  prevent  crime.  George  Driver  was  hanged 
yesterday  in  this  city ;  Osborn  at  Knoxville,  111.,  the 
same  day.  This  morning,  March  the  I5th,  1873,  our 
papers  report  a  number  of  murders, — -one  shooting 
affray,  in  this  city,  at  one  o'clock,  A.  M.,  in  a  saloon, 
by  a  young  man ;  and  we  may  expect  a  number  more 
during  the  next  twenty-four  hours.  Thus  far,  we 
have  not  been  able  to  see  any  good  whatever  result- 
ing from  the  death  penalty ;  but,  on  the  other  hand, 
much  harm  is  done,  and  crime  thereby  increased  in- 
stead of  lessened.  In  consequence  of  the  severe 
punishment  awaiting  the  murderer,  every  effort  is 
made  to  defeat  the  law. 

Lawyers  wrangle  and  quarrel  over  weak  points  in 
law.  The  one  for  the  benefit  of  the  culprit,  tries  to 
weaken  the  facts  in  the  case ;  the  prosecuting  attor- 
ney on  the  other  side,  through  pride,  strives  with 
energy  not  to  be  defeated,  though  life  may  be  involved ; 
thus  giving  practical  lessons  in  lying.  The  last  dollar 
is  spent  by  friends  to  save  the  life  of  the  murderer, 
and  thousands  of  dollars  of  the  public  treasure  trying 
to  take  his  life.  The  uncertainty  of  punishment  gives 
the  criminal  a  hope  of  escaping,  and  stimulates  the 

12 


i;  CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT. 

friends  to  plead  for  a  super sedeas,  new  trial,  commu- 
tation, stay  of  proceedings,  etc.,  all  involving  thou- 
sands of  dollars,  and  neither  doing  justice  to  the 
criminal  nor  to  the  public.  Let  murderers,  as  well  as 
other  criminals,  when  found  guilty,  be  immediately 
disposed  of,  and  sent  to  a  suitable  prison,  where  they 
can  be  of  some  use,  and  begin  the  work  of  reparation 
and  reformation.  No  commutation,  no  supersedeas, 
no  reprieving  power ;  let  the  punishment  be  certain  ; 
and  we  affirm  that  this  will  truly  prevent  crime.  In- 
stead of  keeping  a  murderer  in  jail,  one  or  two 
years,  trying  to  convict  him  and  enforce  the  death 
penalty,  which  does  no  good  whatever,  would  it 
not  be  far  better  to  assign  a  place  for  safe  keep- 
ing, where  he  can  wrork  and  earn  something,  and 
do  good  to  some  one  in  need.  For  example, 
George  Driver  left  a  family  of  five  or  six  children, 
uneducated  and  unsupported.  Society  will  not  ed- 
ucate and  support  those  children  as  they  should  be, 
though  accessory  to  the  crime  of  the  murder;  still, 
by  the  death  penalty,  the  last  support  of  those 
children  is  taken  from  them,  while,  by  imprisonment, 
the  criminal  could  have  done  something  for  their 
benefit.  Again  :  if  the  penalty  were  lighter  and  less 
uncertain,  Driver  would  not  have  spent  his  last  dollar 
in  trying  to  save  his  life,  and  this  money  could  have 
been  saved  to  his  family,  and  in  a  few  weeks  he  could 
have  been  doing  something  more  for  them  ;  besides 
saving  thousands  of  dollars  to  the  public. 

It  is  estimated  that  from  three  to  four  hundred 
thousand  dollars  is  expended  in  the  United  States 
each  year  in  trying  murderers  alone.  Now  if  this 


SHALL    WE    CONTINUE    TO    KILL?  179 

money  were  expended  in  supporting  institutions 
which  have  for  their  object  the  proper  training  of  the 
rising  generation,  who  receive  not  the  proper  atten- 
tion from  parents,  we  apprehend  that  this  would  do 
more  to  prevent  future  crime  than  to  spend  this 
amount  in  simply  trying  to  save  the  lives  of  our  mur- 
derers. The  severity  of  the  penalty,  and  the  uncer- 
tainty of  enforcing  it,  has  rendered  our  courts  of 
justice  ludicrous,  and  people  are  dissatisfied.  All  the 
public  asks  is  strict  enforcement  of  the  law.  If  the 
law  is  unnaturally  severe,  they  are  willing  even  now 
to  have  it  amended,  so  that  it  can  be  enforced,  This 
defect  has  given  rise  to  all  manner  of  opinions,  and 
newspaper  comments,  censuring  our  officers  of  the 
law.  One  of  our  evening  papers  states  as  follows : 

"  Stokes  has  received  an  extension  of  life  for  an  indefinite  num- 
ber of  months,  if  indeed  he  does  not  entirely  escape  punishment. 
Judge  Boardman  examined  the  flimsy  pleas  of  the  murderer's 
lawyers  for  a  stay  of  proceedings,  and  refused  them,  whereupon 
Judge  Davis,  a  man  of  less  backbone,  was  called  upon,  and  he 
promptly  granted  a  stay  of  proceedings.  How  utterly  the  execu- 
tion of  the  laws  depends  on  the  judgment,  temper  or  preference 
of  the  judge,  is  shown  in  this  case  where,  with  precisely  the  same 
facts  before  them,  one  man  decides  that  Stokes  must  hang  and 
another  grants  him  indefinite  reprieve.  If  anything  were  needed 
to  utterly  remove  public  confidence  in  our  legal  tribunals,  such 
farces  as  those  in  the  cases  of  Stokes,  Perteet,  Rafferty,  et  id  omne 
genus,  would  suffice.  Hereafter,  let  murder  trials  be  decided  by 
flipping  up  coppers." 

New  trials  are  asked  for.  Everything  is  done  to 
save  life,  and  this  is  quite  unnecessary.  When  it  is 
plain  that  one  is  guilty  of  murder,  why  have  trial 
after  trial  ?  If  the  death  penalty  can  not  be  enforced, 


l8o  CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT. 

abolish  it,  and  stop  this  wrangling  and  expenditure 
of  money.  Rigidly  enforce  the  law  and  such  edito- 
rials as  the  following  would  not  appear : 

"  Rafferty,  our  policeman-murderer,  after  two  trials  and  convic- 
tions, was  sentenced  on  Saturday,  to  be  hung  on  March  yth,  and 
it  seemed  as  if  the  last  obstacle  to  the  execution  of  justice  was 
removed.  But,  behold,  the  villain's  counsel  straightway  went  to 
work  to  prepare  a  "  bill  of  exceptions,"  and  will  besiege  the  Su- 
preme Court  for  another  trial !  This  is  outrageously  purile  and 
utterly  disgusting." — Evening  Mail. 

Some  time  previous  to  the  execution  of  Driver, 
the  newspapers  were  full  of  opinions  like  the  above ; 
and  this  preys  on  the  wild  imagintions  of  the  people, 
arousing  simply  the  emotions ;  and  all  sorts  of  ex- 
pressions can  be  heard,  such  as,  "  The  officers  should 
be  hung  as  well  as  the  murderer  ;"  "  The  lawyers 
ought  to  be  made  to  take  the  place  of  the  prisoner ;" 
etc.,  coming  merely  through  the  organ  of  revenge. 
We  can  not  expect  any  mitigation  of  crime.  One 
can  judge  where  the  editor  stands  who  gives  his 
readers  the  following : 

"  George  Driver,  one  of  the  crew  of  cold-blooded  wife-murderers 
who  have  done  their  deeds  in  this  city  within  the  past  few  months, 
was  yesterday  found  guilty  of  murder  in  the  first  degree,  and  sen- 
tenced to  be  hung.  This,  of  course,  is  to  be  considered  the  com- 
mencement of  a  pleasant  little  farce,  the  end  of  "which  is  far  off. 
First  will  come  a  new  trial,  then  an  appeal  to  the  Supreme  Court, 
then  a  reversal  and  remanding,  then  a  change  of  venue,  then  a 
supersedeas,  then  an  appeal  for  executive  clemency,  if  by  any 
chance  the  first  verdict  is  sustained ;  and  finally  after  months  of 
time  and  thousands  of  dollars  of  the  people's  money  have  been 
wasted  on  a  wretch  whose  life  is  a  curse  to  the  world,  he  will 
probably  be  required  to  board  a  while  at  the  expense  of  the  State, 
or  get  free  altogether." 


SHALL    WE    CONTINUE    TO    KILL?  l8l 

People  are  yet  uneducated  on  this  subject.  They 
know  of  no  other  means  of  punishme.nt,  and  no 
other  means  of  prevention  of  crime  than  the  death 
penalty ;  hence,  under  these  circumstances,  the  un- 
certainty of  enforcing  the  law,  we  need  not  wonder 
when  a  New  York  reporter  makes  the  following 
statement : 

"  New  York  is  becoming  agitated  at  the  alarming  frequency  of 
murder  in  that  city,  and  the  people  are  demanding  that  somebody 
shall  be  punished.  The  past  few  weeks  have  been  a  harvest  of 
crime." 

The  editor  of  the  Herald  of  Health  has  an  opinion 
differing  some  in  tone  and  sentiment : 

"  HANGING  A  MAN. — In  Brooklyn  yesterday  a  man  was  hung. 
He  had  killed  a  policeman  in  attempting  to  escape  from  his  grasp. 
To-day  the  papers  are  full  of  graphic  and  disgusting  accounts  of 
it.  These  accounts,  we  believe,  have  a  very  bad  effect  on  morals, 
and  upon  the  health  of  delicate  invalids,  and  upon  the  susceptible 
brains  of  children.  They  do  no  good  whatever.  Now  if  men 
are  to  lose  their  lives  for  murder,  we  say  let  it  be  done  as  decently 
as  possible.  If  society  decides  that,  the  murderer  can  not  be 
safely  kept  alive  on  the  globe,  for  fear  he  will  do  more  injury,  let 
it  take  him  out  of  the  way  without  shocking  sensitive  wives  and 
delicate  invalids,  and  tender-hearted  children  with  a  brutal  exhibi- 
tion. How  can  this  be  done.  We  would  not  even  have  the 
prisoner  know  it  himself.  Within  a  few  years  a  method  of  butch- 
ering animals  has  been  invented,  in  which  they  suffer  no  pain. 
Their  brains  are  deliriously  intoxicated  by  a  peculiar  anaesthetic, 
and  nothing  can  hurt  them.  Such  an  anaesthetic  might  be 
silently  passed  into  the  prisoner's  cell  while  he  slept,  and  the 
work  would  be  done.  Would  not  the  ends  of  justice  be  quite  as 
well  met?  Would  not  the  public  be  saved  from  a  most  dis- 
gusting spectacle,  and  the  papers  that  deal  in  such  news  betake 
themselves  to  some  other  means  of  gratifying  the  public  ear  more 
in  accordance  with  public  sentiment  ?" 


1 82  CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT. 

To  evade  the  law  all  manner  of  questions  and  ex- 
cuses are  brought  forward  with  the  hope  of  saving 
one's  life.  This  dodging  of  the  law,  we  think,  would 
cease  as  soon  as  the  death  penalty  is  abolished. 

The  most  common  expedient  to  evade  the  law  is  the 

INSANITY  DODGE. 

This  subject  we  notice  more  at  length  in  another 
chapter,  on  the  subject  of  insanity.  We  will  state, 
however,  that  insanity  can  not  be  made  an  excuse  for 
crime,  or  a  reason  why  punishment  should  not  be 
inflicted.  If  a  man  must  be  in  his  rational  mind 
before  he  is  fit  to  be  hanged,  then  we  argue,  when  he 
is  so,  he  is  also  quite  good  enough  to  live.  All  per- 
sons are  insane,  in  a  degree,  who  commit  murder,  for 
one  of  a  sound  mind  would  not  do  so,  hence  insanity 
can  not  be  made  a  reason  why  punishment  should 
not  be  enforced  in  individual  cases.  In  a  very  few  in- 
stances, perhaps  one  in  a  hundred,  or  perhaps  in  two 
hundred,  murderers  may  be  considered  wholly  insane 
and  fit  subjects  only  for  an  insane  asylum.  Yet  a 
terrible  effort  is  made  to  clear  murderers  on  this  plea. 
In  nearly  every  murder  trial  insanity  is  made  a  plea 
upon  which  to  base  a  hope  of  saving  the  life  of  the 
accused  felon.  The  following  we  clip  from  the  New 
York  correspondence  of  the  Chicago  Tribune : 

"  Scannell,  the  New  York  murderer,  now  on  trial,  has  already 
found  direct  evidence  that  he  is  insane.  The  family  physician 
has  come  forward  to  swear  to  it.  In  connection  with  this  evi- 
dence, it  is  interesting  to  inquire  into  the  responsibility  of  the 
Scannell  family,  the  family  physician,  and  the  authorities  who 
permitted  this  insane  man  to  roam  about  with  murder  the  special 


SHALL    WE    CONTINUE    TO    KILL?  183 

object  of  his  insane  raalignits.  It  will  be  remembered  that  Scan- 
nell  made  several  attempts  upon  the  life  of  the  man  whom  he 
finally  killed,  and  once  injured  him  so  severely  that  he  barely 
escaped  death.  Why  did  not  these  evidences  of  Scannell's  in- 
sanity induce  the  authorities  to  inquire  into  his  mental  condition 
at  the  time,  and  put  him  beyond  the  possibility  of  carrying  01 1 
his  murderous  purpose  ?  If  insanity  is  to  be  recognized  as  an 
excuse  for  the  crime  of  murder,  it  should  also  be  recognized  in 
cases  of  attempted  murder,  and  the  demented  creatures  should  be 
consigned  to  the  asylum  or  prison.  This  is  a  case  in  point,  show- 
ing the  failure  of  the  police  system  that  does  not  attempt  to  pre- 
vent crime  as  well  as  bring  criminals  to  punishment." 

If  it  is  right,  a  Christian  duty,  and  a  benefit  to  the 
public,  to  execute  men  for  murder,  why  then  so  many 
different  opinions,  and  why  make  an  effort  to  com- 
mute the  sentence  of  one  guilty  of  murder.  It 
strikes  us  there  must  be  something  wrong  about  this 
law  or  no  one  would  even  try  to  oppose  it,  or  pray 
that  it  might  be  either  amended  or  wholly  abolished. 
If  all  were  right  no  one  would  ever  think  of  praying 
for  a  reprieve,  save  the  criminal  or  his  family.  Mrs. 
Putman  appeals  to  Governor  Dix,  of  New  York,  to 
have  the  sentence  of  Foster,  the  car-hook  murderer 
of  her  husband,  commuted  to  lesser  punishment. 
The  New  York  Times  also  urges  a  commutation  of 
Foster's  sentence. 

"  The  case,"  the  Times  remarks,  "  excites  much 
public  attention."  A  letter  from  the  Hon.  Wm. 
Orten,  President  of  the  Western  Union  Telegraph 
Company,  is  published  in  the  Times,  in  favor  of  com- 
mutation, based  on  the  application  of  the  jurors,  sta- 
ting that  they  never  regarded  the  condemned  guilty 
of  murder  in  the  first  degree.  If  capital  punishment 


184  CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT. 

is  right, — if  it  is  preventive  of  crime, — if  it  is  a  Chris- 
tian duty, — why  make  such  an  effort  to  save  life ;  or 
why  need  we  be  afraid  of  the  people  ?  If  it  is  a 
moral  lesson,  and  does  "  so  much  good,"  as  it  is 
claimed;  why  need  we  an  army  of  police  to  enforce 
it  ?  The  following  is  a  dispatch  from  New  York,  on 
the  morning  of  the  execution  of  Foster : 

"  Superintendent  Kelso,  with  two  hundred  policemen,  was  on 
hand  this  morning  at  9  o'clock  to  preserve  order.  Foster,  after 
passing  a  restless  and  almost  sleepless  night,  arose  from  his  bed 
about  8  o'clock  and  dressed  himself  for  the  execution.  He  then 
partook  of  a  little  food,  not  seeming  to  have  any  appetite.  Dr. 
Tyng  called  and  administered  spiritual  consolation,  praying  and 
reading  the  scriptures  to  him.  His  father  and  brothers  called  be- 
tween 8  and  9  o'clock,  and  took  their  final  leave  of  the  unfortu- 
nate murderer.  The  scene  was  affecting  in  the  extreme.  Foster 
bore  up  bravely,  while  his  father  and  brothers  were  convulsed 
with  the  burden  cf  their  grief.  They  had  done  all  that  mortal 
men  could  do  to  save  him,  and  now  they  must  part  with  him  for- 
ever." 

The  sole  question  is,  is  capital  punishment  neces- 
sary to  prevent  crime  ?  Thus  far  we  can  see  no 
reasonable  argument  why  it  should  be  continued,  or 
that  it  has  prevented  a  single  murder. 

So  long  ago  as  the  time  of  Nero,  it  was  perceived 
by  the  philosopher  Seneca,  that  retribution  was  a 
just  punishment.  "  No  wise  man,"  he  says,  "  punishes 
because  crime  has  been  committed,  but  only  in  order 
that  crime  may  not  be  committed."  Unless  essential 
to  the  prevention  of  crime,  capital  punishment  can 
not  be  for  a  moment  justified  to  an  enlightened  con- 
science. Finally  the  reader  may  say,  "  you  theorize 
very  well,  but 


SHALL    WE   CONTINUE    TO    KILL?  185 

WILL  IT  DO 

when  put  into  practice  ?"  Wherever  it  has  been 
tried  it  has  worked  well.  Michigan,  since  she  abol- 
ished capital  punishment,  has  had  comparatively  few 
murders  committed  within  her  borders.  Wherever 
the  experiment  has  been,  made,  it  has  always  been 
with  the  best  success.  In  Tuscany,  where  the  death 
penalty  was  abolished  for  twenty  years,  the  Grand 
Duke  officially  announced  that  "  all  crimes  had 
diminished,"  and  Franklin  stated  that  in  Tuscany 
only  five  murders  occurred  in  twenty  years,  while  in 
Rome  and  its  vicinity,  where  the  death  penalty  was 
inflicted,  sixty  murders  occurred  within  three  months. 
It  is  reported  by  Sir  James  Mackintosh,  in  his  fare- 
well address  to  the  grand  jury,  that  after  capital 
punishment  was  abolished,  in  Bombay,  the  commis- 
sion of  murder  was  reduced  in  the  ratio  of  one  to 
four.  During  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII.  72,000  crim- 
inals were  executed — about  2,000  a  year ;  yet  crime, 
it  is  reported,  continually  increased.  "  It  is  not  the 
severity,"  says  Seymour,  "  but  the  certainty  of  punish- 
ment which  deters."  Make  the  punishment  too 
severe,  and  it  will  not  be  inflicted.  When  a  theft  of 
forty  shillings  was  punishable  by  death  in  England, 
within  a  space  of  two  years,  553  perjured  verdicts 
were  rendered  for  thefts  of  thirty-nine  shillings  and 
eleven  pence.  It  is  everywhere  admitted  that  juries 
Will  not  convict  honestly,  if  the  penalty  is  excessive. 
Statistics  carefully  compiled  in  Michigan  since  the 
abolition  of  the  death  penalty,  show  only  twenty 
murders,  while  in  the  city  of  Chicago  alone  one  hun- 


1 86  CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT. 

dred  have  taken  place  during  the  same  period  of 
time.  It  is  well  to  quote  the  words  of  the  great 
Roman  orator:  "Away  with  this  cruelty  from  the 
state.  Allow  it  not,  O  judges,  to  prevail  any  longer 
in  the  commonwealth.  It  has  not  only  the  fatal 
effect  of  cutting  off  so  many  of  your  fellowmen  in 
so  cruel  a  manner,  but  it  has  even  banished  from  men 
of  the  mildest  temper,  by  the  familiar  practice  of 
slaughter,  the  sentiment  of  mercy." 

The  eminent  Bishop  Simpson  says,  "  Not  only  is 
capital  punishment  demoralizing  to  the  public  mind 
— not  only  are  there  frequent  and  fatal  mistakes  in 
putting  the  innocent  to  death — but  also  it  is  as  use- 
less as  it  is  barbarous  and  unjust." 

We  believe  now  that  the  question  of  capital  pun- 
ishment is  settled,  and  will  be  no  longer  questioned 
as  its  doing  any  good  whatever.  It  cannot  reform 
the  criminal  or  compensate  those  who  were  injured. 
It  is  not  a  Christian  duty  for  it  has  been  proven  that 
it  does  not  deter  others  from  committing  murder, 
hence  is  not  a  preventive  measure.  It  violates  the 
laws  of  nature,  and  is  contrary  to  the  spirit  and  the 
teachings  of  the  New  Testament.  It  is  a  relic  of 

o 

heathen  nations,  and  is  a  disgraceful  tolerance  of 
enlightened  Christian  communities,  where  science 
and  reason  are  said  to  be  in  the  zenith  of  glory. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

ON     COMPULSORY     EDUCATION.      SUGGESTIONS     HOW     TO 
PREVENT  CRIME.       PUBLIC    EDUCATIONAL    INSTI- 
TUTIONS FOR  THE  FRIENDLESS,  ETC.,  ETC. 

"  When  ideas  enter  a  barren  brain,  they  lay  inactive  and  dead,  like  seed  cast 
into  sterile  ground.  But  when  they  fall  on  genial  soil,  they  are  almost  sure  to 
germinate  and  spring  forth  in  some  new  and  beautiful  form." — Horace  Mann. 

"The  '  Coming  Child.' — At  the  risk  of  being  thought  fanatical,  we  assert  that 
the  '  Coming  State*  must  take  all  the  children  who  are  abused  and  kept  in  igno- 
rance by  brutal,  drunken,  vicious  parents,  and  educate  and  train  them  up  to  be 
useful  and  happy  citizens.  It  is  a  disgrace  to  the  nation  that  tens  of  thousands 
of  children  are  growing  up  in  the  filth  and  slime  of  our  cities  and  villages  in 
the  grossest  and  the  most  shameless  moral  degradation." —  Truth. 

"  The  next  progressive  move  among  advanced  nations  will  be,  first  in  consid- 
ering, and  next  in  executing  a  plan  for  transforming  swindlers,  petty  thieves, 
and  beggars  into  steady  and  useful  laborers." — N.  C.  Meeker. 

The  problem,  how  to  prevent  crime,  requires  great 
wisdom  to  solve  the  mystery.  A  mere  a  priori  con- 
clusion is  unsafe,  and  hence  a  thorough  knowledge 
of  the  entire  constitution  of  man  is  requisite  to  form 
a  correct  opinion.  To  arrive  at  the  truth,  a  majority 
of  the  people  of  the  United  States  must  possess 
scientific  knowledge  of  the  human  constitution — the 
physical,  the  moral,  the  intellectual,  and  the  social 
natures — in  order  to  be  enabled  to  adjust  man's  laws 
in  harmony  with  the  laws  of  nature.  Until  this  is 
accomplished  we  need  not  expect  to  be  very  success- 
ful in  our  legislative  enactments,  with  a  view  of  pre- 
venting crime.  From  the  standpoint  which  we  occupy 

187 


1 88  CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT. 

in  viewing  the  subject,  we  can  not  other  than  recog- 
nize in  the  criminal  actions  of  men  simply  the  symp- 
toms of  a  diseased  condition.  This  diseased  condi- 
tion has  become  chronic,  we  think,  and,  having  been 
treated  for  many  thousand  years  unsuccessfully,  a 
general  consultation  of  all  the  best  minds  of  the 
nation  may  be  of  great  benefit.  Sufficient  scientific 
knowledge  has  been  acquired  by  the  medical  profes- 
sion to  know  that,  to  cure  a  diseased  condition  the 
cause  must  be  removed ;  then  the  effect  will  cease. 
Those,  however,  who  are  not  capable  of  recognizing 
the  real  cause,  treat  simply  effects,  and  thereby  only 
palliate  the  difficulty  which  is  liable  at  any  time  to 
break  out  in  the  most  malignant  form.  To  radically 
heal  an  old  sore  on  a  man's  leg,  we  will  suppose,  the 
constitution  must  be  restored  to  perfect  health,  and 
while  this  is  being  done  local  treatment  is  also  neces- 
sary. To  treat  only  the  sore  by  local  applications, 
thereby  subduing  the  active  symptoms,  is  running 
great  risks,  and  jeopardizing  the  life  of  the  patient. 
This  kind  of  treatment  is  much  as  if  the  "life 
guards"  on  the  sea  shore,  on  beholding  at  a  distance  a 
flag  of  distress  waving  from  the  mast  of  a  vessel  in 
great  danger,  were  to  man  the  life-boat,  and  make 
every  effort  to  reach  the  scene  of  threatened  disas- 
ter, but,  instead  of  rescuing  the  passengers  aboard, 
they  were  simply  to  cut  down  the  flag-  of  distress, 
and  console  themselves  with  the  idea  that  they  have 
done  their  whole  duty.  This  is  a  fair  example  of 
the  present  mode  of  treating  the  diseased  conditions 
which  pervade  the  body  politic  of  the  nation.  Men 
indulge  in  the  belief  that  they  have  done  their  whole 


ON    COMPULSORY    EDUCATION;  189 

duty,  when  they  have  poulticed  the  sore  by  exacting 
money  fines  for  crime,  or  by  sentencing  a  criminal  to 
hard  labor  for  a  few  months  or  years;  and  think 
when  the  sore  is  healed  the  cause  is  also  removed. 
By  enforcing  the  death  penalty,  they  simply  cut  dowi 
the  flag  of  distress.  They  argue  that  the  dangej 
has  ceased  because  the  flag  announcing  such  condi- 
tion has  disappeared. 

This  palliative  and  insufficient  treatment  of  crime 
is  the  main  reason  why  it  continues  to  be  manifest. 
The  active  symptoms  may  be  suspended  for  a  time, 
but  soon  make  their  appearance  again,  often  in  a 
different  form  and  more  malignant  in  character.  If 
the  sore  is  healed  on  the  man's  leg  without  radically 
curing  the  constitution,  the  next  manifestation  of 
the  disease  is  very  liable  to  be  in  the  form  of  con- 
sumption and  to  kill  the  patient.  So  in  punishing 
crime  simply  by  healing  the  apparent  symptoms,  the 
same  disease  is  very  liable  in  its  next  appearance  to 
be  in  a  form  of  greater  severity,  perhaps  of  thrusting 
the  dagger  into  some  one's  heart.  The  only  rational 
treatment  would  be  a  removal  of  the  cause,  where- 
upon the  effect  will  cease.  To  treat  simply  the  effect 
is  dangerous ;  but  to  ascertain  and  treat,  the  cause 
alone  is  uncertain.  While  we  are  engaged  in  re- 
moving the  cause,  the  effect  has  a  certain  influence, 
and  we  make  slow  headway.  While  the  constitution 
is  being  treated,  the  sore  requires  cleansing  and  vari- 
ous local  treatment,  in  order  to  prevent  re-absorption 
of  the  poisonous  virus.  This  statement  of  the  case 
is  comprehensive  ;  and  all  agree  as  to  the  correctness 
of  the  diagnosis.  The  only  point  on  which  we  can 
differ  is  in  regard  to  the  means  to  be  employed  in 


CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT 

the  treatment  of  the  difficulty.  We  cheerfully  give 
our  mode  of  treatment,  and  the  remedies  which  we 
would  prescribe,  and  trust  to  the  nurse, — society, — to 
administer  them  promptly.  We  are  aware  that  our 
prescriptions  are  suggested  at  a  very  prolonged  period 
of  the  patient's  disease ;  and  we  are  also  conscious  of 
the  fact  that  a  great  amount  of  treatment  has  already 
been  given, —  much,  no  doubt,  with  a  good  effect, 
and  perhaps  some  having  a  very  bad  effect ;  yet,  as 
the  saying  is,  "  so  long  as  there's  life  there's  hope," 
and  we  are  willing  to  make  an  effort  in  common  with 
many  others  to  counteract,  if  possible,  the  diseased 
tendencies.  The  ultimate  object  is  perfect  restora- 
tion. To  accomplish  this,  it  is  necessary,  to  under- 
stand correctly  the  nature,  character  and  cause  of  the 
disease  we  are  treating,  and  also  the  constitution,  and 
idiosyncrasy  of  our  patient.  These  conditions  have 
been  sufficiently  canvassed  in  the  first  part  of  this 
volume,  to  which  the  reader  is  referred.  All  that 
now  remains  to  be  done  is  to  indicate  the  treatment, 
and  whether  the  healing  potion  can  be  successfully 
administered. 

We  have  intimated  that  in  the  treatment  the  grand 
object  is  to  bring  about  revolution, — restoration, — 
and,  to  accomplish  this,  the  cause  must  be  removed, 
or  the  effect  will  not  cease.  This  may  be  done  in 
two  ways :  in  the  treatment  of  the  constitution  by 
constitutional  means,  or  by  local  application  in  cor- 
recting the  effect.  The  constitutional  measures  are 
moral  suasion,  and  the  local  measures  legal  suasion. 
The  two  should  operate  corelatively  until  the  effect 
requires  no  further  treatment.  We  wish  it  to  be 


ON    COMPULSORY    EDUCATION. 

understood  by  our  reader  that  we  figuratively  com- 
pare society,  or  the  entire  human  family,  to  a  body 
variously  organized.  Let  us  now  consider  first  the 

CONSTITUTIONAL  MEASURES 

by  which  we  propose  to  remove  the  cause  of  crime. 
In  the  first  part  of  this  volume,  we  have  shown  that 
men  are  mainly  actuated  by  the  force  of  circum- 
stances; — surroundings,  habits,  associations,  and  edu- 
cation affect  men  m  all  stations  of  life.  We  have 
also  stated  that  crime — which  is  only  a  symptom — is 
the  result  of  a  depraved  condition,  which  may  have 
been  hereditary  or  acquired. 

This  depravity  exists  generally  physically  as  well 
as  mentally.  Physical  depravity  is  the  result  of  dis- 
obedience to  physiological  laws,  and  mental  depravity 
is  the  result  of  ignorance  or  disobedience  of  the 
natural  laws  governing  mentality.  It  is  scarcely 
necessary  to  refer  the  reader  to  one  universal  fact, 
which  is  that  nearly  all  of  our  criminals  are  de- 
praved and  ignorant  whose  early  training  was  woe- 
fully neglected.  Read  the  history  of  any  of  our 
most  noted  criminals,  and  it  will  be  conceded  that 
the  crime  may  be  traced  back  to  a  depraved  ancestry, 
neglected  early  education,  and  improper  culture  of 
the  moral  and  intellectual  capabilities.  The  Buffalo 
murderer,  who  was  recently  executed,  was  raised  and 
educated  among  harlots,  gamblers,  and  thieves.  His 
whole  life  was  devoted  to  crime,  and  hence  was  well 
calculated  to  culminate  in  the  most  terrible  of 
crimes.  The  Galesburg  murderer,  Osborne,  was  a 


CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT. 

man  of  no  education  and  lived  a  wicked  life  from 
childhood.  He  had  no  one  to  lead  him  in  the  path 
in  which  he  should  go  in  after  life.  With  the  Peoria 
murderer  it  was  the  same.  The  notorious  Probst,  the 
murderer  of  the  Deering  family,  was  more  like  a 
beast  than  a  human  being.  His  history  shows  that 
he  never  was  taught  by  a  mother ;  that  none  interested 
themselves  in  his  moral  training  while  a  child.  Driver 
of  Chicago  was  a  man  of  no  moral  training;  igno- 
rant of  physiology,  and  the  most  common  branches 
of  natural  philosophy.  The  Boston  murderer  who 
is  doomed  to  die  in  a  few  days,  is  ignorant  of  even 
the  most  common  branches  of  education, — an  orphan 
child,  allowed  to  grow  up  like  a  weed.  Foster,  the 
car-hook  murderer,  is  reported  as  of  a  depraved,  un- 
couth organization,  of  intemperate  habits,  and  no 
moral  education.  So  we  might  go  on  and  fill  volume 
after  volume  to  show  that  crime  and  ignorance, 
neglected  early  culture,  and  bodily  and  mental  de- 
pravity, go  hand  in  hand.  We  make  not  an  exagger- 
ated statement  when  we  affirm  that  not  one  in  a  hun- 
dred of  our  murderers  is  an  enlightened  person. 
These  conditions,  of  course,  exist  in  different  degrees 
of  activity,  from  a  murderer  down  to  a  common  liar. 
The  disease  assumes  so  many  different  forms,  that  it 
is  difficult  to  discern  it,  until  very  positive  symptoms 
have  been  developed.  It  is  hard  to  find  the  line 
where  virtue  ends  and  crime  begins ;  it  is  hard  to 
find  in  the  body  politic  one  who  says,"  I  have  enough  ; 
I  will  loan  you  money  at  six  per  cent,  per  annum." 
Having  examined  this  subject  in  all  its  bearings,  we 
are  satisfied  that  the  best  constitutional  treatment,  as 


ON    COMPULSORY    EDUCATION.  193 

indicated,  is  a  universal  education  of  the  rising  gen- 
eration,— a  general  diffusion  of  knowledge  in  all  its 
branches,  and  so  educating  every  faculty  of  the  mind 
that  where  discord  now  exists  harmony  may  take  the 
place. 

In  addition  to  the  institutions  of  learning  that 
now  exist,  we  recommend  others.  The  vehicle 
through  which  we  propose  to  accomplish  the  general 
diffusion  of  knowledge,  is 

COMPULSORY  EDUCATION. 

Let  the  state  enforce  by  law  the  education  of  every 
child  in,  at  least,  all  the  common  branches,  and,  where 
it  is  practicable,  even  in  the  higher  ones. 

Aside  from  obliging  parents  to  send  their  children 
to  school,  until  the  boy  is  eighteen  and  the  girl  six- 
teen, the  state  should  educate  and  support  all  the 
paupers,  orphans,  and  vagabond  children.  It  will  be 
much  cheaper  than  to  support  prisons,  jails,  and 
criminal  courts,  and  the  effect  will  be  far  more  pre- 
ventive of  crime  than  the  infliction  of  an  excessive 
and  unnatural  punishment. 

The  Tribune  in  an  editorial,  March  19,  1873,  which 
we  give  below,  verifies  our  statement :  * 

*  "  Governor  Dix,  who  has  always  been  peculiarly  happy  in  his 
aphoristic  sentiments,  says  in  his  letter  declining  to  interfere  in 
the  Foster  case :  *  Every  man  who  strikes  a  murderous  blow  at  the 
life  of  his  fellow,  must  be  made  to  feel  that  his  own  is  in  certain 
peril.'  There  is  a  need  that  this  should  be  a  guiding  principle  at 
this  time,  and  at  all  times,  in  dealing  with  the  dangerous  classes. 
The  present  importance  of  Governor  Dix's  advice  has  just  been 
illustrated  almost  simultaneously  in  New  York  and  Chicago.  On 
Monday  evening,  in  New  York,  a  party  of  three  roughs,  without 

13 


IQ4  CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT. 

The  execution  of  Driver  in  this  city,  executions  in 
other  places,  and  Gov.  Dix's  letter,  at  about  the  same 
time,  it  seems,  had  not  the  desired  effect.  The  editor 
of  the  Tribune  thinks  that  it  is  "only  necessary  that 
Driver's  murderous  companions  should  be  tried  ac- 
cording to  law  to  have  them  go  the  same  way  he 
went  last  Friday.  It  is  only  by  ridding  the  commu- 
nity of  these  outlaws  that  the  class  to  which  they 
belong  may  be  brought  under  the  terror  that  alone 
can  restrain  their  murderous  propensities."  In  our 
mode  of  treating  this  class  of  people,  we  would  have 
them  placed  in  a  reformatory  institute  or  prison,  long 

provocation,  "began  their  murderous  work  in  a  saloon,  and,  evi- 
dently maddened  at  the  sight  of  the  blood  they  caused  to  flow, 
kept  it  up  after  going  into  the  street,  cutting  and  slashing  with  their 
knives  at  every  one  they  chanced  to  meet.  Early  yesterday  morn- 
ing, a  somewhat  similar  slaughter  occurred  in  the  disreputable 
neighborhood  of  Halsted  street  and  Canalport  avenue, — where 
Rafferty  killed  Officer  O'Meara,  and  where  the  two  police  officers 
were  forced  to  kill  the  two  McVeighs  to  save  their  own  lives.  In 
yesterday's  melee,  one  man  had  his  throat  cut  from  ear  to  ear, 
others  were  badly  damaged,  and  it  was  only  the  singular  chance 
which  is  noticed  in  rows  of  this  kind  that  prevented  a  more  gen- 
eral destruction  of  human  life.  The  neighborhood  in  which  this 
latest  murder  occurred  is  crowded  with  dangerous  characters  of 
the  Rafferty  and  McVeigh  stamp,  who  seem  to  be  entirely  uncon- 
trolled by  law.  There  is  but  one  way  in  which  an  impression  can 
be  made  upon  such  a  community,  and  that  is  the  way  which  Gov. 
Dix  suggests.  The  rapid  and  certain  execution  of  the  law,  death 
to  actual  murderers,  and  the  severest  punishment  possible  to  would- 
be  murderers,  is  the  only  effectual  remedy  that  can  be  applied. 
Nothing  short  of  this  will  appeal  to  the  brutal  instincts  of  the 
classes  who  defy  the  laws,  and  permit  their  passions  to  run  wild. 
The  man  who  deals  a  murderous  blow  *  must  be  made  to  feel  that 
his  own  life  is  in  certain  peril.' " 


ON    COMPULSORY    EDUCATION.  195 

before  they  commit  such  horrible  deeds  as  murder. 
We  do  not  believe  it  to  be  a  good  practice  to  con- 
tinue to  treat  the  effect  alone,  which  is  only  the  active 
sympton  of  a  poisonous  virus  infecting  the  entire  body 
of  society. 

It  is  said  to  make  a  deep  impression  on  the  mind 
to  touch  people's  pockets ;  and  they  will  at  least 
hearken  to  what  you  have  to  say.  In  this  connec- 
tion we  beg  permission  to  give  a  few  figures.  In  the 
year  1870,  Chicago  had  over  25,000  arrests  and  trials 
for  crime.  St.  Louis  had,  during  the  same  year, 
26,500.  To  this  number  add  New  York,  Philadel- 
phia, Buffalo,  Cincinnati,  New  Orleans,  Nashville, 
and  other  cities  of  like  reputation  in  crime,  and  we 
have,  in  the  aggregate,  in  the  United  States,  during 
the  year  1870,  over  500,000  crimes  which  were  tried 
and  disposed  of  according  to  law.  It  is  further  esti- 
mated that  it  cost  the  people  of  the  United  States 
^annually  about  thirty-six  million  dollars  to  punish 
this  great  army  of  criminals.  Chicago  alone  sup- 
ports five  hundred  police,  St.  Louis  over  six  hundred, 
New  York  sixteen  hundred,  Philadelphia  eight  hun- 
dred, and  at  a  rough  estimate  the  United  States 
supports  constantly  an  army  of  police  and  officers  of 
justice  of  nearly  thirty  thousand,  costing  Chicago 
alone  over  half  a  million  of  dollars, — enough  money 
when  properly  invested  to  educate  and  support  all  of 
its  paupers,  orphans,  and  children  of  neglectful 
parents,  and  have  enough  money  besides  to  defray 
all  expenses  of  a  free  public  lecturing  hall,  in  each 
ward.  All  this  money  may  be  saved  to  the  public, 
after  ten  years;  for  if  we  educate  our  children  in 


196  CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT. 

earnest,  and  strictly  according  to  the  laws  of  their 
nature,  we  can  so  bend  and  train  them  that  in  ten 
years  we  shall  have  no  need  of  five  hundred  able- 
bodied  men  parading  our  streets,  "armed  with  an  im- 
plement of  death,"  to  keep  the  people  in  the  path  of 
virtue.  It  is  doubtless,  much  cheaper  for  the  state 
to  feed,  educate,  and  train  up  its  paupers,  orphans, 
and  children  of  criminals  and  neglectful  parents,  than 
afterwards  to  keep  them  as  outlaws  and  criminals. 
It  is  far  better  and  easier  to  train  the  young  heart 
than  to  frighten  the  adult  into  right  doing.  Let 
society  do  its  whole  duty  by  the  child,  and  it  will  not 
need  to  strangle  the  adult.  For  the  education  of 
this  class  of  children  we  recommend  a 

STATE    INSTITUTION. 

Let  the  state  make  an  appropriation  and,  if  neces- 
sary, levy  a  special  tax  to  build  a  house  of  correction 
or  a  reformatory  educational  institute,  where  all 
children,  six  years  of  age  and  upwards,  and  even 
adults  of  doubtful  moral  habits,  may  be  sent  and 
made  to  work  and  be  schooled  so  as  to  train  them  to 
a  useful  life.  This  institution  can  be  made  self-sus- 
taining by  the  proper  cultivation  of  about  five  hun- 
dred to  one  thousand  acres  of  land,  which  may  be 
bought  very  cheap,  and  by  this  means  give  all  the 
inmates  practical  lessons  in  farming.  Here  the 
child  may  learn  something  about  nature  which  it  can 
never  learn  in  a  city  prison,  or  the  so-called  house  of 
correction.  Eight  hours  for  educational  exercises  in 
school,  part  of  which  time  may  be  devoted  to  the 


ON    COMPULSORY    EDUCATION.  197 

toilet,  bathing,  etc.;  and  eight  hours  for  labor,  during 
which  time  the  teacher,  at  the  signal  of  the  bell, 
marches  with  her  class  to  a  place  assigned  to  her, 
where  she  can  give  practical  instruction  in  cultivating 
vegetables  and  small  fruits  for  the  table,  beautiful 
flowers,  and  young  fruit  trees  for  the  market.  Little 
girls,  as  well  as  boys,  should  learn  something  about 
tilling  the  soil  of  mother  earth.  This  is  healthful  to 
the  body  and  gives  the  mind  variety  of  thought. 
During  the  winter  season  these  children  should,  in- 
stead of  farm  exercises,  be  required  to  take  practical 
lessons  in  housekeeping,  sewing,  or  learning  some 
trade,  all  of  which  will  fit  them — aside  from  the  intel- 
lectual and  moral  education  which  they  receive  in 
school — to  take  their  place  in  society  when  they  are 
grown. 

The  farm  should  be  divided  up,  so  as  to  suit  the 
ages  and  different  classes — from  the  child  to  the 
adult;  the  girls  being  only  required  to  cultivate 
flowers,  vegetables,  and  small  fruits.  All  manner  of 
industry  may  be  taught  here,  also  every  branch  of 
education.  No  one  should  be  allowed  to  leave  this 
institution,  without  they  are  sufficiently  well  qualified 
to  enable  them  to  enter  good  society,  and  make  an 
honorable  living.  This  institution  should  be  so  ar- 
ranged as  to  provide  every  means  of  development 
All  the  different  natures  df  man, — all  the  faculties, — 
should  receive  attention.  It  should  contain  lecture- 
rooms,  lyceums,  gymnasiums,  and  bath-rooms.  It 
should  be  provided  with  amusement,  and  music,  wor- 
ship, social  training,  lessons  in  conversation  and  con- 
certs would  lend  zest  to  more  practical  occupations. 


198  CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT. 

Attached  to  the  institute  should  be  play-grounds, 
parks,  an^  a  few  small  lakes.  It  should  also  be  pro- 
vided with  a  museum,  containing  varieties  of  wild  as 
well  as  domestic  animals,  that  practical  instruction 
may  be  given  in  natural  history.  The  schools  should 
be  conducted  about  the  same  as  our  public  schools. 
An  institution  of  this  kind  can  be  sustained  at  much 
less  expense  than  our  present  system  of  treating 
criminals.  Aside  from  the  state  institutions,  which 
we  have  suggested,  the  compulsory  education  of  the 
masses  is  absolutely  necessary.*  Parents  should  be 

*  ON  COMPULSORY  EDUCATION. — "  A  peculiar  feature  of  the 
legislation  of  the  past  winter  has  been  the  unprecedented  num- 
ber of  measures  designed  to  secure  more  general  and  more  reg- 
ular attendance  of  children  at  school. 

u  Not  only  in  the  National  Legislature,  but  in  several  of  the 
State  Legislatures,  bills  have  been  introduced  for  the  promotion  of 
public  education  by  devices  ranging  from  penalties  for  non-attend- 
ance at  school,  as  proposed  in  the  state  of  New  York,  to  rewards 
for  regular  attendance  (by  remission  of  taxes),  as  proposed  in 
Illinois.  Though  these  schemes  have  been,  for  the  most  part,  un- 
successful,— the  time  not  being  ripe  for  them,  as  their  friends 
allege, — they  have  shown  very  clearly  the  drift  of  public  opinion. 
The  nation  has  been  aroused  to  a  sense  of  its  educational  poverty, 
and  is  earnestly  casting  about  for  a  cure.  It  has  learned  that 
some  millions  of  its  population  are  illiterate;  that  millions  of 
children  are  growing  up  unschooled ;  that  ignorance  is  every- 
where associated  with,  if  not  related  to,  poverty  and  crime ;  and 
that  the  productive  force  of  the  country  is  seriously  weakened  by 
lack  of  intelligence.  The  natural  inference  is,  that  a  wider  diffu- 
sion of  elementary  instruction  would  go  far  to  inaugurate  a  hap- 
pier state  of  things.  And  the  inference  is  just.  But  when  people 
assume,  as  the  advocates  of  compulsory  schooling  do,  that  the 
instruction  now  given  in  the  schools  is  a  certain  cure-all  for  the 
evils  noticed,  and  that  the  one  thing  needful  is  some  means  oi 


ON    COMPULSORY    EDUCATION.  199 

compelled  by  law  to  send  their  children  to  school 
from  eight  years  of  age  until  the  boy  is  eighteen  and 
the  girl  is  sixteen.  In  the  little  province  of  Witten- 
berg, Germany,  this  has  been  a  law  for  over  a  century, 
and  now,  with  a  population  of  seven  million  souls, 
murder  is  a  rare  occurrence 

bringing  all  the  children  into  the  schools  and  keeping  them  there, 
then  their  position  may  be  reasonably  questioned.  It  is  by  no 
means  evident  that  such  an  extension  of  the  scope  and  power  of 
the  public  schools  would  be  an  advantage.  Indeed  there  are 
reasons  for  suspecting  that  it  might  prove  a  national  calamity  un- 
less a  radical  change  were  first  made  in  the  matter  and  methods 
of  popular  teaching.  Let  us  not  be  charged  with  hostility  to 
public  schools.  We  believe  in  them  firmly.  It  is  not  only  the 
wisest  policy  but  the  highest  duty  of  the  community  to  make 
education  a  public  concern,  and  to  see  to  it  that  no  poverty,  indif- 
ference, or  greed  shall  be  suffered  to  deprive  the  young  of  suitable 
opportunities  for  instruction  and  culture.  We  believe,  further, 
that  a  well  devised  and  properly  conducted  system  of  public 
schools  is  the  directest,  cheapest,  surest,  and  best  means  for  secur- 
ing the  instruction  of  all  classes.  Nevertheless,  we  seriously 
question  whether  the  existing  system  is  anywhere  near  that  state 
of  perfection  which  would  warrant  us  in  stereotyping  it,  and  en«- 
forcing  it  on  all  children.  We  are  by  no  means  sure  that  the  in- 
struction given  in  the  schools  is,  in  the  main,  such  as  the  children 
need.  We  doubt  whether  the  mental  habits  fostered  by  the 
schools  are  really  beneficial  to  inhabitants  of  a  working  world  like 
ours.  We  doubt  whether  instruction  is  offered  at  the  most  suita- 
ble times  and  for  the  most  suitable  periods.  In  short,  there  is 
not  a  feature  of  the  popular  school  system  that  we  should  not 
wish  to  have  carefully  reconsidered  before  extending  its  sphere 
and  power.  The  perfection  of  the  system  is  to  be  found  in  Bos- 
ton. It  is  the  professed  desire  of  the  advocates  of  compulsory 
education  to  secure,  as  far  as  possible,  to  all  the  children  of  the 
land,  the  school  advantages  provided  by  that  city.  In  view  ol 
the  testimony  of  the  hundred  and  fifty  physicians  who  have  ioined 


2OO  CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT. 

No  child  should  be  allowed  to  be  employed  in 
factories  or  elsewhere,  when  the  employment  posi- 
tively prevents  it  from  acquiring  a  proper  education, 
during  its  school  days. 

If  it  is  not  in  the  power  of  parents  to  educate  their 
children  without  receiving  some  income  from  their 
earnings,  then  it  is  the  duty  of  society  to  educate 

with  the  parents  of  the  pupils  in  the  Boston  Latin  school  in  pro- 
testing against  the  system  of  long  hours  and  cramming  enforced 
in  that  school  in  particular,  and  in  the  public  schools  in  general, 
we  may  be  pardoned  for  accounting  those  'advantages'  some- 
thing fearful.  '  I  cannot  doubt  that  the  modern  system  of  forcing 
the  tender  brain  of  youth  lays  the  foundation  for  the  brain  and 
nervous  disorders  of  after  years — the  cases  of  melancholia, 
paralysis,  softening  of  the  brain,  and  kindred  diseases  becoming 
so  fearfully  prevalent.'  So  writes  Dr.  Clement  A.  Walker,  Super- 
intendent of  the  City  Hospital  for  the  Insane.  Dr.  George  A. 
Stuart  adds  :  '  Of  late  years  the  majority  of  diseases  seem  to 
have  assumed  a  nervous  type,  which  in  most  cases  may  be  traced 
to  over-taxation  of  the  mental  powers  of  the  young,  both  male 
and  female.'  And  Dr.  J.  B.  Treadwell :  '  Hundreds  of  pupils 
of  our  public  schools  are  ruined  in  health  every  year ;  this  I 
know  from  personal  observation.'  And  Dr.  H.  F.  Damon  :  *  The 
amount  of  vital  power  has  its  limits,  and  these  limits,  in  my  judg- 
ment, are  far  exceeded  by  the  present  system  of  overtasking  the 
pupils  in  our  public  schools.'  Dr.  E.  B.  Moore  writes  that  he 
has  a  son  now  in  the  insane  asylum,  '  the  result  of  excessive  study 
and  disappointed  ambition.' 

"  We  do  not  infer  that  such  would  everywhere  be  the  inevitable 
results  of  the  proposed  extension  of  public  schooling,  but  such 
results  would  be  possible,  indeed  probable,  unless  the  system  were 
materially  modified  ;  and  we  ought  to  be  very  cautious  in  erect- 
ing a  national  god  so  likely  to  turn  out  a  Moloch.  If  the  choice 
lies  between  healthy  ignorance  and  *  an  overtaxed  brain,  a  dwarfed 
body,  a  weakened  intellect,  a  variety  of  diseases,  and  a  premature 
grave,' — which  Dr.  P.  D.  Walsh  says  is  the  natural,  or  unnatural, 


ON    COMPULSORY    EDUCATION.  2OI 

them.  This  being  done,  we  believe  that  the  consti- 
tutional disease,  which  now  prevades  society,  will  be 
largely  mitigated.  How  many  parents  who  have  suf- 
ficient means  to  support  and  educate  their  children, 
force  them  to  labor  daily  in  shops  or  the  field,  only 
to  have  them  earn  a  few  dollars  so  that  the  parent 

result  of  the  current  system  of  schooling, — commend  us  to  an 
abundance  of  healthy  ignorance. 

"  Even  if  much  study  were  never  a  weariness  to  the  flesh, — if 
the  requirements  of  the  schools  could  be  complied  with  without 
any  risk  of  broken  health,  the  present  cost  of  schooling  would  be 
needlessly  great.  The  complaint  that  our  schools  are  spoiling 
our  more  promising  youth  for  work, — that  they  foster  foolish  am- 
bitions and  aversions  to  material  pursuits,  is  not  wholly  without 
foundation.  Ten  or  fifteen  years  of  exclusive  devotion  to  books 
is  very  apt  to  develop  tastes  and  habits  unfriendly  to  productive 
labor.  The  youth  leaves  school  a  young  man  (in  his  own  estima- 
tion at  least),  and  very  likely  with  exaggerated  notions  of  his  own 
importance.  He  is  too  old,  and  too  proud,  and  '  too  much  of  a 
gentleman'  to  begin  at  the  bottom  of  any  craft,  and,  by  doing  a 
boy's  work,  acquire  that  familiarity  with  details  on  which  the 
mastery  of  any  business  depends.  Besides,  in  most  cases,  he  can 
not  afford  the  time  for  such  an  apprenticeship.  He  must  begin 
to  earn  wages  at  once.  The  consequence  is,  the  country  is  full  of 
unprofitably  t  educated'  men,  who,  having  neither  rude  strength 
nor  skilled  hands,  are  glad  to  get  employment  at  lower  rates  than 
are  paid  to  common  laborers.  The  loss  to  the  country  from  this 
needless  diverting  of  youth  from  productive  labor  is  beyond  esti- 
mation. It  is  due  very  largely  to  the  unwise  requirements  of  the 
schools  in  the  matter  of  time.  They  suffer  no  rivals.  Their 
pupils  must  give  the  best  part  of  the  day,  regularly,  to  school 
work,  or  withdraw.  It  may  ruin  their  health,  and  deprive  them 
of  opportunity  to  acquire  the  practical  business  training  on  which 
their  future  happiness  and  usefulness  will  chiefly  depend.  No 
matter ;  the  character  of  the  school  is  at  stake,  and  the  school, 
not  the  student,  is  the  primary  consideration.  The  Boston  Board 


2O2  CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT. 

may  be  enabled  to  accumulate  money.  Such  persons 
are  proper  subjects  for  legislation. 

Again,  no  person  should  be  allowed  to  marry  with- 
out they  can  show  visible  means  to  support  and 
educate  a  family.  A  young  man  should  have  a  legiti- 
mate vocation,  aside  from  a  given  amount  of  money, 

admit  this  inversion  of  the  proper  order  of  things  with  uncon- 
scious frankness,  in  their  refusal  to  lessen  the  amount  of  study  re- 
quired of  the  Latin  school  boys.  '  It  would  be  impossible/  they 
plead,  *  to  point  out  any  eminent  school  of  this  grade  in  which  a 
less  number  of  hours  is  found  sufficient.' 

"At  the  lower  end  of  the  social  scale  is  another  class  of  victims 
to  the  unwisdom  of  our  school  conductors.  The  records  of  our 
Board  of  Education  show  that  half  the  children  who  enter  the 
schools  never  pass  beyond  the  primary  grades  ;  that  is,  they  leave 
school  before  they  can  read  a  newspaper,  or  work  a  simple  sum  in 
fractions.  Mrs.  Holmes's  '  Children  who  Work,'  in  our  last  num- 
ber, tells  what  becomes  of  the  most  of  them.  Their  sad  condi- 
tion justifies  legislative  interference;  but  it  would  be  going  to  as 
injurious  an  extreme  to  compel  them  to  stop  work  entirely, 
and  go  to  school  all  day.  They  must  live ;  and  they  must  earn 
their  living  soon,  if  not  now.  The  school  of  letters  is  to  them  a 
need,  the  school  of  labor  is  an  absolute  necessity ;  and,  as  things 
are,  they  cannot  take  both.  Nevertheless,  they  could  have,  and 
should  have,  both ;  and  we  believe  that  the  public  schools  ought 
to  take  the  first  step  toward  making  this  consummation  possible, 
by  offering  instruction  at  such  times,  and  for  such  periods,  as  shall 
least  conflict  with  the  primary  requirements  of  the  children.  The 
current  six-hour  system  is  destructive  at  both  ends,  and  in  the 
middle.  It  is  ruinous  to  health,  it  prevents  the  practical  educa- 
tion of  the  well-to-do,  and  it  shuts  out  from  school  privileges  that 
large  class  which  cannot  command  the  whole  day  for  book-learn- 
ing. A  system  so  doubtfully  adapted  to  the  circumstances  of  the 
case  needs  very  careful  looking  to  before  it  is  made  absolute  in 
power  and  dominion.  Indeed,  our  Boards  of  Education  are  in 
urgent  need  of  some  scores  of  Huxleys  to  insist,  as  Professor 


ON    COMPULSORY    EDUCATION.  2O3 

on  which  to  begin  life.  The  young  woman  should 
also  be  required  to  own  a  reasonable  outfit.  This  is 
a  law  in  some  states,  in  the  old  country,  and  it  is  said 
to  work  admirably.  Such  a  law  would  inspire  a  spirit 
of  economy  and  industry,  make  young  men  and 
women  more  steady  in  their  habits,  and  instead  of 
producing  paupers  would  very  soon  render  even  the 
term  obsolete. 

Public  halls  should  be  erected  in  every  township, 
and  in  every  ward,  for  free  lecturing  purposes,  lyceums, 
and  amusements,  each  night  in  the  week.  The  hall 
to  be  under  the  control  of  a  janitor,  who  may  be 
appointed  or  elected,  and  who  should  be  required  to 
light  and  keep  it  in  order  for  some  exercises  each 
night,  whose  salary  should  be  fixed  by  the  county  com- 
missioners and  paid  out  of  the  county  funds.  It 
should  be  generally  understood  that  on  every  Mon- 
day evening  a  lecture  will  be  given  by  some  one  who 
may  volunteer  or  officiate  by  special  request.  In  this 
home  talent  should  be  encouraged  as  much  as  possible. 
On  Tuesday  evening  we  would  suggest  a  debating 
lyceum ;  on  Wednesday,  a  concert ;  on  Thursday, 
dancing;  on  Friday,  children's  temperance  lyceum; 

Huxley  did  at  a  late  meeting  of  the  London  School  Board,  on  a 
reconsideration,  not  only  of  the  subjects  and  methods  of  elemen- 
tary instruction,  but  of  the  hours  given  to  schooling.  Our  public 
schools  may  never  become  perpetual  fountains  at  which  all  may 
draw  as  they  have  opportunity ;  but  they  will  cease,  we  hope,  to 
hedge  themselves  about  with  needless  exactions  and  impassable 
barriers.  They  will  not  insist  on  six  hours'  attendance  a  day, 
when  three  hours  are  the  limit  of  profitable  study ;  nor  will  they 
insist  on  three  hours'  study  or  none  when  any  number  of  children 
can  command  but  one  hour." — Journal  of  Education. 


2O4  CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT. 

and  on  Saturday,  political  debating  meeting,  where 
all,  either  men  or  women  would  have  a  right  to  speak, 
speaking  being  limited  to  ten  minutes,  and  no  ill- 
natured  discussions  being  allowed,  or  dogmatic 
decisions  by  the  house ;  simply  a  statement  of  opin- 
ion. Persons  may  be  called  on  to  speak,  but  those 
who  prefer  to  read  short  paragraphs  from  papers  or 
books,  may  be  permitted  to  do  so.  These  exercises 
should  never  be  allowed  to  be  prolonged  after  half- 
past  nine  o'clock,  the  time  of  beginning  being  about 
half-past  seven  o'clock.  These  exercises  may  be 
made  attractive,  interesting,  and  useful,  where  the 
working  man  and  woman  can  spend  their  evenings 
to  a  good  advantage.  Compulsory  education,  we 
believe,  then,  to  be  the  only  hope  of  regenerating 
society,  so  that,  in  time,  wrong-doing  will  cease. 

We  come  now  to  consider  briefly  in  addition  to 
what  has  already  been  suggested  in  other  chapters, 
as  to  how  to  co-operate  with  moral  suasion  in  the 
treatment 

OF  THE  EFFECT 

by  legal  persuasion.  We  believe  it  to  be  necessary 
and  right  to  suppress  all  business  of  an  illegitimate 
character:  such  as  drinking-shops,  gambling  houses, 
lectures  and  places  of  amusement  where  the  moral 
welfare  of  mankind  is  not  the  chief  object.  Busi- 
ness, of  every  kind,  should,  by  law,  be  suspended  each 
evening  at  half-past  6  o'clock,  (see  Chapter  V.,  Part 
First),  then  people  will  finish  the  day's  work  in  a  day, 
and  not  take  part  of  the  night  to  do  it.  Then  people 


ON    COMPULSORY    EDUCATION.  2O5 

will  strive  to  administer  to  the  spiritual  and  moral 
nature  as  well  as  to  provide  for  the  body.  All  per- 
sons moving  into  a  neighborhood,  should  have  their 
names  registered,  stating  their  vocation,  in  order  to 
ascertain  whether  they  have  an  honorable  means  of 
support. 

This  will  put  a  stop  to  loafing,  effectually.  Any 
one  found  intoxicated  should  be  arrested,  and  his 
liberty  restrained.  He  should  be  sent  to  a  house  of 
correction,  of  the  kind  heretofore  indicated.  If  he  is 
a  married  man,  his  property  should  pass  into  the 
entire  control  of  his  wife,  or  a  guardian  appointed 
by  the  court,  to  control  the  business  affairs  of  a 
drunkard,  until  he  can  show  sufficient  evidence  from 
the  reformatory  institute  that  he  is  cured,  and 
capable  of  conducting  his  own  affairs  again. 

There  should  be  no  money  fine  as  a  punishment. 
Drunkenness  should  be  made  a  penal  offense  and 
punished  the  same  as  other  crimes,  which  are  consid- 
ered violations  of  law.  This  would  be  death  to  in- 
ebriation which  now  goes  unpunished ;  then  we  shall 
not  be  required  to  hang  men  for  murder,  perpetrated 
while  under  the  influence  of  whisky.  Some  one  asks, 
"  Will  this  then  be  a  free  country  ?"  Yes  ;  free  to  do 
and  act  just  as  you  please,  only  you  will  not  be  free 
to  do  wrong.  We  are  opposed  to  punishing  the 
criminal  by  exacting  a  certain  sum  of  money ;  it  is 
no  punishment  whatever;  it  is  no  more  punishment 
than  to  pay  an  honest  debt. 

This  will  not  reform  the  criminal,  either  physically 
or  mentally.  If  crime  is  the  result  of  depravity, 
which  we  think  will  be  admitted,  then  the  punish- 


206  CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT. 

ment  should  be  -to  cure  that  depravity,  and  not  to 
foster  it.  Nearly  all  of  our  minor  crimes  are  pun- 
ished by  fines,  and  those  who  can  not  pay  are  sent  to 
a  work-house  until  they  can  pay  to  the  city  or  county 
the  amount  required  as  a  fine.  This  is  what  we  call 
corporal  punishment,  and  has  never  reformed  a  single 
criminal  (See  chapter  on  that  subject.)  As  to  the 
bail  system,  we  have  for  a  number  of  years  been 
opposed  to  accepting  a  bail  bond  to  insure  the  crimi- 
nal's appearance  at  some  time  in  the  future,  to  answer 
to  the  charges  against  him.  The  Tribune,  this 
morning,  March  I7th,  1873,  gives  an  official  report 
where  thirty-five  criminals  have  escaped  justice,  the 
bail  bonds  proying  worthless,  defrauding  the  county 
out  of  $20,000.  We  are  in  favor  of  abolishing  this 
uncertain  mode  of  administering  justice.  Bring  the 
accused  to  a  speedy  trial,  and  inflict  punishment 
promptly,  and  thus  dispose  of  a  criminal  in  a  few 
days,  and  put  him  to  work  where  he  can  be  reformed. 
So  long  as  we  accept  money  as  a  payment  for  crime, 
we  are  allowing  the  virus  of  the  sore  to  be  reab- 
sorbed,  and  this  is  a  constant  source  of  constitutional 
poisoning. 

A  word  in  regard  to  religious  teachings  or  secta- 
rian ideas.     We  would  have 

IT  REMEMBERED 

that  we  are  not  in  favor  of  mixing  things  up  too 
much.  The  Sabbath  is  set  apart  legitimately  for 
worship  and  religious  instruction.  Let  the  evenings 
during  the  week,  then,  be  devoted  to  scientific  educa- 


ON    COMPULSORY    EDUCATION.  207 

tion,  which  is  the  handmaid  of  religion.  The  clergy 
may  here  use  their  powers  and  talents  in  giving  lec- 
tures on  philosophical  subjects.  It  is  as  well  for  a 
mechanic  to  know  the  composition  of  water,  as  for  a 
physician,  a  lawyer,  or  clergyman  ;  or  to  understand 
the  use  of  the  air  we  breathe,  the  influence  of  light, 
heat,  etc.,  on  life ;  or  to  acquire  knowledge  on  any  of 
the  branches  pertaining  to  physiology,  hygiene,  men- 
tal and  moral  philosophy.  Here  is  a  work  for  physi- 
cians that  is  unlimited.  We  do  not  think  it  proper 
to  teach  people  medicine,  but  too  much  knowledge 
on  physiology  can  not  be  diffused  among  the  people. 
It  teaches  how  to  eat,  how  to  exercise,  how  to  sleep, 
how  to  train  the  physical  organism  as  well  as  the 
mental.  If  we  would  prevent  crime  and  overcome 
evil,  we  must  labor  to  diffuse  knowledge  among  the 
masses  on  all  subjects  which  teach  men  how  to  live 
rather  than  how  to  die.  It  is  the  sentiment  of  the 
profession,  expressed  by  that  great  and  good  man, 
the  immortal  Horace  'Greeley,  when  he  said  that 
"  children  need  training  just  as  much  as  colts.  Like 
them,  they  are  animals,  though  something  more- 
having  physical  organizations,  and  souls  inside  of 
them.  But  these  latter,  however  grand  in  themselves, 
are  dependent  for  their  mode,  method  and  power  of 
expression  upon  the  physical  organizations  in  which 
they  dwell,  and  with  which  they  are  so  intimately 
connected.  To  bring  the  soul  out,  the  body  must  be 
trained.  Herein  is  the  relation  of  parents  to  chil- 
dren in  this  country,  most  lamentably  defective.  I 
do  not  overlook  the  fact  that  much  of  the  success  in 
training  depends  upon  the  quality  of  the  physical 
organization." 


208  CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT 

In  a  lecture  on  the  "  Coming  Man,"  delivered  in 
Philadelphia,  and  published  at  the  time  in  one  of  the 
city  papers,  we  said  that  "  the  only  hope  of  the  '  com- 
ing man,'  occupying  a  higher  station  in  life,  capable 
of  perpetuating  a  republican  form  of  government, 
and  continuing  his  march  toward  perfection  is  in  a 
general  diffusion  of  physiological  knowledge  in  addi- 
tion to  the  moral  teachings  of  the  church.  Man 
must  first  be  organically  and  constitutionally  regen- 
erated, before  he  can  enjoy  a  spiritual  and  moral 
harmony.  So  long  as  man  is  physically  depraved  he 
is  incapable  of  imbibing  higher  truth,  hence  physi- 
cians have  a  work  which  is  as  important  in  the  great 
work  of  man's  reformation  as  that  of  the  clergy." 

Now  we  believe,  and  it  seems  quite  rational,  too, 
that  if  the  suggestions  advanced  in  this  chapter  alone 
were  carried  into  effect  and  properly  systematized, 
crime — which  is  the  effect  of  the  great  disease  per- 
vading society — could  soon  be  controlled  and  "  check- 
mated," that  but  few  symptoms  would  be  manifested, 
and  the  cause  removed  by  universal  education  through 
moral  suasion,  administered  by  the  strong  arm  of 
legal  persuasion.  Thus  by  purifying  the  constitution, 
and  at  the  same  time  suppressing  the  effect,  we  may 
reasonably  hope  that  the  day  is  not  far  distant  when 
crime  and  human  depravity  will  be  superseded  by 
virtue,  and  enable  every  member  of  the  human  family 
to  enter  into  a  glorious  state  of  happiness. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

WHAT   WE   KNOW   ABOUT    INSANITY.     WHO  ARE  THE 

INSANE?    AND    SHALL    WE    MAKE    INSANITY 
AN    EXCUSE    FOR   CRIME? 

"  If  man  exercise  only  his  spiritual  powers  on  earth,  and  confine  their  activity 
alone  to  the  spiritual  portion  of  the  brain,  disease  will  follow,  and  there  is 
danger  of  a  dethronement  of  reason.  A  healthful  activity  is  the  regulator  of 
the  whole  man." — Huxley. 

"  As  reason  exalts  man  above,  so  the  lack  of  it  degrades  him  beneath,  the 
animal  consciousness." — Davis. 

This  world  may  be  looked  upon  as  one  grand 
asylum  for  the  insane.  The  difference  between  those 
within  the  walls  of  a  house  for  the  safe-keeping  of 
those  which  the  law  considers  absolutely  insane  and 
those  on  the  outside  is  not  so  great  as  one  might 
suppose.  Insanity  assumes  as  many  different  forms 
as  crime. 

Insanity  is 'the  result  of  a  diseased  condition  of 
the  physical  organism  as  well  as  of  the  mind.  Crime 
is  a  manifestation  of  a  depraved  condition  of  the 
mental  as  well  as  of  the  physical  organism.  Right 
actions  of  men  are  the  manifestation  of  a  healthy 
mental  and  physical  condition  of  the  being.  Those 
whom  we  consider  insane  are  persons  whose  actions 
are  discordant,  and  not  in  harmony  with  the  common 
actions  of  men.  Insanity,  like  crime,  has  its  origin 
in  hereditary  transmission ;  also  in  an  acquired  con- 
dition, which  demands  a  simultaneous  attention  and 
34  209 


2IO  CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT. 

study.  We  have  stated  in  the  first  part  of  this  vol- 
ume that  consumption,  scrofula,  and  other  diseases 
are  transmissible  from  parent  to  child,  and  are,  there- 
fore, often  peculiar  to  families.  The  same  conditions 
may  be  acquired  by  even  the  most  healthy  and  robust 
persons  who  have  no  preceptible  hereditary  taint  in 
their  system.  The  same  we  have  stated  to  be  true 
of  crime,  virtue,  and  mental  power.  Sanity  in  the 
human  mental  constitution,  like  health  in  the  mate- 
rial body,  rewards  its  possessor  by  lifting  his  sensa- 
tions and  thoughts  superior  to  self;  while  the  insane 
mind  is  punished  with  an  unconquerable  and  obtru- 
sive egotism — is  supremely  rapt  in  self  importance, 
even  as  a  diseased  body  gives  its  proprietor  no  rest 
neither  day  nor  night.  An  insane  man  incessantly 
thinks  of  himself.  A  sane  mind,  on  the  contrary, 
thinks  for  the  benefit  of  others.  Society,  with  its  in- 
tense antagonisms,  and  organized  hatreds,  develops 
insanity  in  individuals,  by  compelling  each  to  be 
practically  tyrannical  and  unceasingly  selfish.  Obe- 
dience to  the  sanitary  laws  of  the  mental  constitution 
would  remove  the  individual  from  the  vortex  of  con- 
flicting interests.  He  would  choose  the  good  and 
reject  the  evil ;  and  thus  he  would  become  "  insane," 
in  the  opinion  of  all  narrow  and  selfish  minds,  be- 
cause he  could  no  longer  respect  their  assumed  rights, 
nor  harmonize  with  their  diabolical  methods. 

Sanity  in  the  human  mind  is  celestial  and  har- 
monial  health  ;  in  exchange  for  which,  earthly  riches 
are  poverty. 

The  sane  mind  is  instructed  by  the  past,  thankful 
for  the  present,  hopeful  for  the  future  ;  but  the  in- 


WHAT   WE    KNOW    ABOUT    INSANITY.  2 1  I 

sane  man  turns  his  back  to  the  future,  quarrels  with 
the  present,  and  sees  the  past  as  a  universal  grave  of 
hopes  and  longings.  It  is  important  to  note,  that 
not  only  the  mind  and  body  are  governed  by  laws, 
but  that  they  are,  to  a  great  extent,  governed  by  the 
same  laws.  Whatever  improves  the  physical  quali- 
ties of  the  brain,  improves  also  the  mind ;  whatever 
deteriorates  the  brain  impairs  the  mind.  They  have 
a  common  development,  are  equally  increased  in 
vigor,  capacity,  and  power  by  systematic  and  judi- 
cious exercise,  and  are  alike  injured  by  deficient  or 
excessive  effort. 

The  brain  is  exhausted  by  thinking,  as  the  muscles 
by  acting ;  and,  like  the  exhausted  muscles,  it  re- 
quires time  for  the  restoration  of  vigor  through  nu- 
tritive repair.  As  thus  the  mind  is  dependent  upon 
the  conditions  of  the  brain,  while  the  brain  is  con- 
trolled by  the  bodily  system,  we  see  how  impossible 
it  is  to  deal  with  the  mental  powers  in  a  practical 
way  without  taking  the  material  organization  into 
account.  Diseases  of  the  brain  are,  above  all  others, 
complex  and  obscure.  Those  of  subordinate  parts 
affect  only  the  organic  function  ;  but  when  the  higher 
nervous  centers  become  disordered,  thought,  feeling, 
will,  conduct,  and  character  are  implicated,  and  the 
whole  circle  of  individual  relations  and  actions  be- 
comes a  study  of  symptoms — a  field  of  diagnosis. 
So  great  is  the  difficulty  and  responsibility  of  the 
taskx  that  only  the  educated  and  capable  physician, 
who  devotes  his  life  to  this  specialty,  is  competent  to 
deal  with  these  cases.  And  yet  all  members  of  the 
community  have  a  vital  interest  in  the  subject,  be- 


212  ,        CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT. 

cause,  first,  health  and  vigor  of  mind  are  of  the  high- 
est importance,  and  these  interests  each  person  has 
in  his  own  immediate  care ;  second,  the  causes  that 
undermine  them  are  numerous  and  insidious ;  third, 
society  has  a  duty  to  perform  toward  the  defective 
minded,  which  should  be  performed  not  ignprantly, 
but  intelligently;  and,  finally,  a  real  knowledge  of 
the  characteristics  and  causes  of  mental  deterioration 
is  the  key  to  a  true  understanding  of  the  constitu- 
tion of  human  nature. 

We  will  now  speak  briefly  of  the  different  forms  of 

MENTAL   IMPAIRMENT. 

We  have  stated  that,  owing  to  certain  conditions 
of  the  body,  false  appearances  and  various  disturb- 
ances of  the  senses  are  liable  to  arise.  These  errors 
are  of  several  kinds.  We  are  here  largely  indebted 
to  Huxley,  Youman,  and  others,  for  our  statements. 
One  of  the  simplest  forms  of  mental  aberration  is 

HALLUCINATION. 

All  the  senses  are  subject  to  this  deception.  Sights, 
sounds,  tastes,  smells,  and  contacts  are  experienced 
when  there  are  no  realities  to  cause  them.  These 
mistakes  are  very  common,  and  the  greatest  minds 
are  often  subject  to  them.  Byron  fancied  he  was 
visited  by  a  spectre,  which  he  confessed,  was  but  the 
effect  of  an  over-worked  brain.  Dr.  Johnson  said 
that  he  heard  distinctly  the  voice  of  his  mother  call- 
ing, "  Sam,"  although  she,  at  the  time,  was  residing  a 
long  way  off.  Goethe  positively  asserts  that  he  one 


WHAT    WE    KNOW    ABOUT    INSANITY.  213 

day  saw  the  exact  counterpart  of  himself  coming 
toward  him.  Descartes,  after  long  confinement,  was 
followed  by  an  invisible  person  calling  upon  him  to 
pursue  the  search  of  truth.  Luther  imagined  he  saw 
the  devil,  and  threw  his  ink-stand  at  him.  Hallu- 
cinations may  thus  exist  in  a  sound  state  of  the  rea- 
son, which  recognizes  their  true  character.  In  the 
insane,  they  assume  a  thousand  singular  and  fantastic 
forms.  The  first  form  that  presents  itself  is  what  are 
called 

ILLUSIONS. 

In  this  case  an  object  may  be  seen,  but  misunder- 
stood, or  mistaken  for  something  else.  These  are 
very  common.  When  the  imagination  becomes  mor- 
bidly excited  through  the  influence  of  fear,  supersti- 
tion, or  otherwise,  there  is  great  liability  to  illusion. 
The  folds  of  drapery,  or  pieces  of  furniture,  seen  by 
a  pale,  uncertain  light,  are  taken  for  apparitions ;  the 
clouds  are  transformed  into  fighting  armies ;  or  the 
heavens  appear  filled  with  blood.  When  the  mind 
becomes  more  deeply  perverted,  one  person  is  mis- 
taken for  another;  animals  are  mistaken  for  men, 
and  conversely ;  an  old  hat  for  a  royal  crown,  and  a 
handful  of  pebbles  for  heaps  of  gold.  Another  de- 
viation is  what  is  termed 

DELUSION. 

In  these  cases,  the  seat  of  error  is  not  in  the 
senses  themselves,  but  the  judgment,  in  relation  to 
objects  of  sense.  The  mind  is  liable  to  deceptions, 


214  CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT. 

and  to  accept  as  facts  various  false  notions,  which 
have  no  immediate  reference  to  sense, — perceptions, 
— as  where  a  person  believes  he  is  a  prophet,  or  a 
king,  or  is  the  victim  of  a  conspiracy  to  take  his  life, 
or  has  lost  his  soul. 

From  the  illustrations  given,  it  will  be  seen  that 
hallucination  and  illusion  may  co-exist  with  a  sound 
state  of  the  reason,  which  comprehends  their  real 
nature  ;  and  it  is  maintained  that,  in  some  cases,  the 
mind  can  rectify  its  own  delusions.  But  if  in  any  of 
these  circumstances  the  individual  is  incapable  of 
recognizing  or  correcting  them  when  an  appeal  is 
made  to  his  reason,  the  case  is  one  of  delusional  in- 
sanity. These  delusions  are,  of  course,  liable  to 
involve  the  feelings,  and  the  character  of  the  insanity 
may  depend  upon  the  emotions  excited.  A  person 
under  the  delusion  of  pride,  who  fancies  himself  an  em- 
peror or  an  angel,  may  be  harmless;  but  if,  under  the 
delusion  of  fear,  he  imagines  those  around  him  to  be 
enemies,  seeking  to  take  his  life,  or  if  he  hears  voices 
commanding  him  to  kill  them,  his  insanity  is  danger- 
ous, and  necessitates  restraint. 

EMOTIONAL  INSANITY. 

By  this  is  understood  a  derangement  of  the  affec- 
tions, an  abnormal  deficiency  of  moral  sense,  or 
morbid  activity  of  the  propensities  which  give  rise  to 
extravagance  of  conduct.  These  diseases  of  feeling 
do  not  necessarily  involve  insanity  of  the  intellect. 
A  person  may  have  a  good  degree  of  intelligence  with 
a  very  low  and  defective  moral  nature ;  or  he  may  be 


WHAT    WE    KNOW    ABOUT    INSANITY.  215 

driven  by  insane  impulses  to  the  commission  of  acts 
which  his  judgment  condemns.  In  the  healthy  bal- 
ance of  the  faculties,  reason  guards  the  passions ; 
but  these  may  be  so  morbidly  exalted  that  reason 
loses  its  empire ;  it  can  counsel,  but  no  longer  con- 
trol. Moral  perversities  of  character  may  be  hered- 
itary, or  exist  from  birth,  when  the  whole  life  of  the 
individual  is  morally  unhealthy  ;  or  they  may  be  due 
to  various  causes,  the  effects  of  which  are  seen  in  a 
profound  change  in  the  conduct.  Examples  of  the 
former  kind  are  numerous,  where  inertness  or  obtuse- 
ness  of  the  moral  nature,  and  a  controlling  activity 
of  the  lower  propensities,  have  been  witnessed  from 
childhood,  and  over  which  threats,  rewards,  and  pun- 
ishments were  without  influence.  In  some  cases, 
persons  in  whom  mental  derangement  has  never 
appeared  become  the  subjects  of  a  gradual  change  ot 
feeling  and  conduct.  They  are  noticed  to  be  un- 
usually absorbed,  reserved,  and  irritable  upon  the 
slightest  provocation.  As  the  cloud  gathers,  there  is 
increasing  suspicion  and  moroseness,  and,  without 
perhaps  knowing  the  reason,  the  patient's  friends 
regard  him  as  an  altered  man.  At  last  the  storm 
bursts,  and  some  outrageous  act  is  committed.  If  it 
is  not  a  breach  of  law,  he  is  declared  insane,  and  sent 
to  the  asylum ;  if  the  law  has  been  violated,  he  is 
probably  declared  a  criminal,  and  sent  to  prison  or 
execution.  Or  the  case  may  terminate  in  suicide, 
under  a  blind  impulse  to  self-destruction.  Doctor 
Maudsley  gives  a  good  illustration  of  emotional 
insanity.  "  A  married  lady,  aged  thirty-one,  who  had 
only  one  child,  a  few  months  old,  was  for  months 


2l6  CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT. 

afflicted  with  a  strong  and  persistent  suicidal  impulse 
without  any  delusion  or  disorder  of  the  intellect 
After  some  weeks  of  anxious  care  from  her  relatives, 
she  was  sent  to  an  asylum,  so  frequent  were  her  sui- 
cidal attempts.  She  was  quite  rational,  even  in  her 
great  horror  and  reprobation  of  the  morbid  propen- 
sity, and  bitterly  deplored  the  grief  and  trouble  she 
caused  her  friends.  Nevertheless,  her  attempts  at 
suicide  were  unceasing,  at  one  time  trying  to  strangle 
herself,  and  again  refusing  to  take  food.  After  she 
had  been  in  the  asylum  for  four  months,  she  appeared 
to  be  undergoing  a  slow  and  steady  improvement, 
and  watchfulness  was  somewhat  relaxed;  but  one 
night  she  suddenly  slipped  out  of  a  door,  climbed  a 
high  garden-wall  with  surprising  agility,  and  threw 
herself  headlong  into  a  reservoir  of  water.  She  was 
got  out  before  life  was  extinct,  and  after  this  attempt 
gradually  regained  her  cheerfulness  and  love  of  life." 
Doctor  Maudsley  exclaims :  "  In  the  face  of  such  an 
example  of  uncontrollable  impulse,  what  a  cruel 
mockery  to  measure  the  lunatic's  responsibility  by 
his  knowledge  of  right  and  wrong !"  implying  that 
there  are  those  who  would  limit  insanity  to  derange- 
ment of  the  intellect — a  derangement  so  profound  as 
to  obliterate  the  capability  of  even  discriminating 
between  right  and  wrong.  There  has  been  a  reluc- 
tance to  admit  the  existence  of  what  is  termed  moral 
insanity  on  the  part  of  many,  who  confine  their  atten- 
tion to  the  practical  difficulties  it  involves  as  regards 
society.  They  are  in  the  habit  of  believing  that,  for 
all  practical  purposes,  the  moral  endowments  of  men 
are  equal.  Not  exactly  that  they  are  equally  benevo- 


WHAT    \VE    KNOW    ABOUT    INSANITY.  217 

lent,  equally  honest,  equally  true  to  the  right  and 
good ;  but  that  they  have  an  equal  chance  so  to  be, 
if  they  choose.  In  the  moral  sense  or  faculty,  it  is 
easy  to  recognize  two  different  elements,  the  power 
to  discern  the  distinction  between  right  and  wrong, 
virtue  and  vice,  the.  honest  and  the  base,  and  the  dis- 
position to  pursue  the  one  and  avoid  the  other.  These 
elements,  like  those  of  the  intellect,  are  unequally 
developed  in  different  men,  which  inequality  may  be 
either  congenital  or  produced  in  after  life  by  moral  or 
physical  causes.  And  thus,  though  a  person  may 
appear  to  act  with  perfect  freedom  of  will,  uncon- 
scious of  any  irresistible  bias,  yet  it  is  obvious  that 
his  conduct  is  actually  governed  more  by  these 
variable  conditions  of  his  moral  nature  than  by  any 
abstract  notions  formed  by  the  intellect. 

It  does  not  answer  the  essential  question  to  say 
that  a  person  is  good  or  bad  because  he  chooses  to 
be  one  or  the  other.  In  the  considerations  here  pre- 
sented, and  in  these  only,  are  to  be  found  a  satisfac- 
tory answer  to  this  question.  The  first  of  these  we 
will  call 

MANIA. 

This  is  applied  to  a  large  class  of  cerebral  disor- 
ders, in  which  the  balance  of  the  mental  forces  is 
lost,  and  the  mind  is  in  a  state  of  preternatural  ex- 
citement, which  exhibits  itself  in  a  thousand  different 
ways.  It  may  be  either  chronic  or  acute.  In  the 
former,  it  is  somewhat  modified  and  lessoned,  ap- 
proaching imbecility  as  the  mind  becomes  more  and 


2l8  CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT. 

more  disorganized  through  the  insidious  and  debili- 
tating effects  of  the  disease. 

The  acute  form,  as  its  name  indicates,  is  an  exalted 
violent  action  of  strong  unexhausted  mental  faculties 
whose  action  is  perverted  and  uncontrolled  by  the 
will  of  the  patient  or  of  his  friends.  To  say  that 
these  conditions  are  made,  is  absurd,  to  say  the  least. 

The  next  form  we  have  to  deal  with,  is 

MONOMANIA. 

This  is  similar  to  mania,  except  in  this  particular, 
that  it  is  limited  to  a  single  faculty,  or  a  single  idea. 
In  all  other  things,  and  upon  all  other  subjects,  the 
patient  may  be  perfectly  compos,  but  on  one  particular 
subject  he  is,  as  they  say,  "  wild  as  a  hawk."  It  may 
be  an  intense  desire  to  kill — homicidal  mania ;  or  a 
suicidal  mania — an  irresistible  impulse  to  self-destruc- 
tion. A  case  of  this  kind  has  already  been  described. 
A  diseased  propensity  to  steal  is  called  kleptomania; 
and  in  pyromania  there  is  the  desire  to  burn  build- 
ings. There  are  monomanias  of  pride,  vanity,  etc. 
Dr.  Bucknill  describes  the  following  case  : 

"  An  industrious,  well-informed  artisan  had  a  fever 
that  ended  in  an  attack  of  maniacal  excitement. 
From  this  he  recovered,  but  grew  irritable,  morose, 
and  quarrelsome.  After  the  lapse  of  more  than  a 
year,  he  declared  himself  the  Son  of  God.  After 
this,  his  temper  became  more  docile,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  an  occasional  outburst  of  violence  toward 
those  whom  he  thinks  ought  to  obey  him.  He  is 
reasonable  and  rational,  and  works  industriously  at 


WHAT    WE    KNOW    ABOUT    INSANITY.  2IQ 

his  trade."  Another  form  of  cerebral  disorder,  and 
one  marked  by  depression,  sadness  and  gloom,  is  the 
opposite  of  mania.  The  one  is  an  exalted,  furious 
condition ;  the  other  a  lowered  and  depressed  state 
of  the  mind,  and  is  termed 

MELANCHOLIA. 

Melancholia  takes  a  variety  of  forms.  It  may  be  an 
exaggeration  of  the  patient's  natural  character,  and 
have  a  long  period  of  development.  It  is  often  a 
consequence  of  other  forms  of  insanity,  and  may 
spring  from  the  grief  that  follows  sudden  calamity. 
The  diseased  depression  of  the  feelings  characteristic 
of  melancholia  may  exist  without  impairing  the  in- 
tellectual operations ;  but  it  is  generally  accompanied 
by  delusions  and  hallucinations,  although  these  gen- 
erally derive  their  tone  from  the  character  of  the 
disorder.  They  are  insane  explanations  of  the 
patient's  wretchedness,  or  gloomy  forebodings  of 
what  is  to  happen  to  him  in  the  future.  There  is 
another  form  of  insanity,  characterized  by  a  diminu- 
tion of  mental  power,  and  by  an  incapacity,  which 
gradually  increases,  and  invades  the  whole  muscular 
system.  This  is  called 

GENERAL    PARALYSIS. 

This  disease  is  one  peculiar  to  manhood.  It  is 
scarcely  ever  met  with  before  thirty.  Women  are 
seldom  sufferers  from  general  paralysis. 

The    earliest    symptoms    of    motor  derangement 
affect   the  tongue,  and  are  evinced    in  thickness  of 


22O  CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT. 

speech,  and  imperfect  articulation  of  words,  especially 
those  abounding  in  consonants.  It  is  a  curious  fact 
that  the  mental  derangement  accompanying  this 
striking  and  fatal  decay  of  bodily  energy  takes  the 
form  of  an  exaggerated  feeling  of  personal  power 
and  importance.  One  man  imagines  he  is  the 
possessor  of  ship-loads  of  gold  and  silver;  another, 
that  he  is  the  Son  of  God ;  another,  that  he  is  as 
heavy  as  the  world ;  and  so  on  through  the  list  of 
kings,  emperors,  etc.,  each  person  having  his  own 
peculiar  phantasy.  We  have  three  other  forms  of 
mental  derangement.  One,  which  consists  of  ex- 
treme debility,  and  results  from  loss,  obliteration,  or 
decay  of  the  faculties,  is  called 

DEMENTIA. 

Another  form,  the  result  of  profound  infirmity  of  the 
cerebro-spinal  system,  caused  by  arrested  develop- 
ment before  birth  or  in  early  infancy,  and  which  per- 
verts or  destroys  the  reflex,  instinctive,  and  intellec- 
tual function,  is  known  as 

IDIOCY. 

The  third  and  last  form  denotes  a  degree  of  mental 
deficiency  not  so  low  as  idiocy — a  development  rather 
retarded  than  arrested.  The  memory  and  under- 
standing are  in  a  state  of  feebleness,  but  they  are 
capable  of  some  education.  This  is  termed 

IMBECILITY. 
We  have  here  briefly  described  the  leading  forms 


WHAT    WE    KNOW    ABOUT   INSANITY.  221 

of  mental  disease,  which  in  their  ultimate  stages  dis- 
solve the  responsible  relation  of  their  victim  to  so- 
ciety. What  to  do  with  these  cases  is  a  question  for 
the  physician  and  the  judge ;  but  from  the  point  of 
view  of  mental  hygiene,  which  aims  at  their  preven- 
tion, our  attention  is  drawn  to  the  definite  causes  of 
mental  improvement,  which  are  seen  in  many  other 
effects  beside  those  of  overt  insanity.  There  is  much 
perverted  mental  action  that  never  passes  into  mania  ; 
much  mental  weakness  that  never  reaches  dementia  ; 
much  morbidity  of  feeling  that  never  ripens  into 
moral  insanity.  The  classes  in  which  mental  defects 
are  so  prominent  that  the  state  must  assume  their 
charge  are  deplorably  numerous ;  yet  they  form  but 
a  fraction  of  the  total  amount  of  mental  weakness 
and  incapacity  which  exists  in  the  community. 
Massachusetts  reports  three  thousand  insane,  twelve 
hundred  idiots,  about  five  hundred  blind,  and  four 
hundred  deaf-mutes.  But,  beside  these,  she  has  ten 
thousand  paupers  — persons  incapable  of  taking  care 
of  themselves — and  a  large  criminal  class,  who,  from 
moral  perversity,  in  which  low  and'  deficient  organi- 
zation plays  a  leading  part,  become  the  scourge  of 
society. 

All  of  the  forms  of  mental  impairment,  and  de- 
grees of  immorality  and  lawlessness,  are  the  result 
of  concurring  influences,  both  internal  and  external. 
The  causes  are  predisposing  and  exciting.  The  pre- 
disposing cause  to  insanity  is  most  generally  a  trans- 
mitted condition,  which  the  patient  may  have  had 
from  birth,  only  requiring  some  exciting  cause  to  de- 
velop it  into  acute  mania,  which  will  manifest  itself 


222  CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT. 

in  the  perpetration  of  some  outrageous  crime  against 
society.  Again,  we  may  have  mania  from  some  ex- 
ternal exciting  cause,  and  have  no  former  predispo- 
sition. A  mind  overworked,  or  overburdened  with 
care  and  anxiety,  from  the  slightest  exciting  cause 
may  suddenly  break  down,  and  the  manifest  symp- 
toms are  those  of  acute  mania,  in  most  cases  that  of 
a  suicidal  form— an  intense  desire  to  end  one's  life, 
Defective  nutrition  of  the  cerebral  structure  is  another 
cause  of  insanity.  This  may  be  due  to  an  arrest  of 
nutritive  action  in  the  organ,  or  a  deficiency  of  proper 
nutrition  of  the  body,  which  becoming  weakened,  of 
a  necessity  involves  the  cerebral  functions.  Without 
a  sound  body  we  cannot  have  a  sound  mind,  and  vice 
versa.  That  debilitated  stock  is  a  source  of  criminal- 
ity and  insanity,  no  one  can  doubt.  How  the  running 
down  of  stock,  through  the  loss  of  vital  power,  by 
hereditary  influences,  should  swell  the  ranks  of  the 
dependent  classes,  or  those  incapable  of  self-support, 
is  obvious.  But  this  cause  is  equally  powerful  in 
reinforcing  the  dangerous  classes  who  fill  our  jails 
and  prisons.  Immoral  training  and  vicious  associa- 
tions are  undoubtedly  among  the  potent  agencies  by 
which  these  are  educated  for  the  career  of  crime 
and  vice ;  but  a  co-operating  cause,  of  far  greater 
power,  is  low  organization  or  defective  cerebral  en- 
dowment. They  begin  life  with  a  nervous  system, 
incapable  of  the  higher  controlling  functions. 

OVERTASKING  THE  EMOTIONS 
is  undoubtedly  one  great  cause  of  insanity,  and   a 


WHAT   WE    KNOW    ABOUT    INSANITY.  223 

concomitant  of  advancing  civilization.  The  savage 
state  is  marked  by  simple  unchangeable  social  insti- 
tutions, uniformity  of  manners  and  habits.  The 
savage  rarely  laughs  or  sheds  tears ;  he  is  educated 
to  stoicism.  On  the  contrary,  our  education,  instead 
of  being  a  training  to  self-control,  and  a  systematic 
discipline  of  the  emotions,  through  cultivation  of  the 
sciences  of  nature,  is  too  generally  conducted  in  the 
spirit  of  excitement ;  studies  are  pursued  under  the 
spur  of  sharp  competition  for  the  prizes  and  applause 
of  public  examinations,  and,  in  place  of  sober  and 
solid  attainment,  our  culture  degenerates  into  a  mere 
preparation  for  trade  and  politics. 

OVERTASKING  THE  INTELLECT 

is  an  extensive  cause  ot  mental  derangement,  though 
less  so  than  those  just  considered.  The  baneful 
effects  of  cerebral  exhaustion  have  already  been  no- 
ticed to  some  extent.  That  study  is  carried  often  to 
injurious  lengths,  is  notorious.  Moderate  use,  un- 
doubtedly develops  the  brain,  and  it  is  equally  certain 
that  if  the  amount  of  work  is  carried  much  beyond 
this  point,  the  organ  is  endangered.  It  has  been 
objected  to  this  view  that  the  lunatic  asylums  are 
chiefly  peopled  with  inferior  rather  than  highly  cul- 
tivated minds ;  but  inferior  minds  are  just  those 
most  likely  to  be  injured  by  excessive  study.  Any 
one  can  reason  from  the  physical  to  the  mental 
powers  and  see  that  this  is  so.  The  educated,  trained 
muscles  of  the  blacksmith  will  endure  more  continued 
hard  labor  than  the  uneducated,  soft,  flaccid  muscles 


224  CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT. 

of  the  clerk,  and  just  so  in  proportion  the  educated 
brain  will  endure  more  constant  laborious  study  than 
the  one  that  is  not  educated.  It  is  not  to  be  forgot- 
ten that  there  are  evils  of  mental  underaction  as  well 
as  of  overaction.  While  there  is  no  evidence  that, 
in  the  case  of  uncultured  savages,  the  brain  is  liable 
to  become  diseased  from  lack  of  exercise,  the  same 
thing  can  not  be  affirmed  of  the  cultivated  races. 
The  progress  of  civilization  in  these  races  is  accom- 
panied by  a  higher  development  and  increasing  com- 
plexity of  cerebral  organization ;  and  this  higher 
condition  can  only  be  maintained  by  a  corresponding- 
ly higher  degree  of  functional  exercise.  Without 
that  activity  which  its  greater  perfection  implies  and 
requires,  the  brain  of  the  civilized  man  degenerates. 
To  end  this  chapter  without  giving  a  few  hints  and 
precautions  would  leave  it  unfinished.  It  is  a  serious 
error  to  suppose  that,  because  there  may  be  a  pre- 
disposition to  insanity  in  a  family,  therefore  the 
members  are  to  regard  their  danger  in  the  light  of  a 
fatality  from  which  there  is  no  escape ;  on  the  con- 
trary, these  are  pre-eminently  the  cases  in  which,  to 
a  wise  discretion,  forewarning  is  forearming.  Where 
such  a  tendency  exists,  the  education,  occupation, 
and  habits  should  be  ordered  with  the  strictest  refer- 
ence to  it.  The  establishment  of  strong  bodily  health 
should  be  a  paramount  consideration.  The  physical 
education  should  be  specially  directed  to  strengthen 
the  nervous  system  and  diminish  its  excitability. 
Much  study,  bodily  inaction,  confinement  to  warm 
rooms,  sleeping  on  feathers,  are  all  favorable  to  undue 
nervous  susceptibility.  In  the  education  of  children 


WHAT  WE    KNOW    ABOUT    INSANITY.  225 

thus  circumstanced,  in  brain  exercises,  it  is  of  the  first 
importance  to  remember  that  whatever  tends  in  any 
degree  to  impair  the  mental  health,  acts  with  re- 
doubled power  when  co-operating  with  morbid  ten- 
dencies.* While  the  brain  is  yet  plastic  and  pliable,  a 
little  mismanagement,  the  humoring  of  precocity,  the 
repression  of  physical  and  nervous  activity,  or  over- 
stimulation  of  thought,  may  awaken  the  germs  of 
mental  disorder,  and  lead  to  the  most  injurious  con- 
sequences. To  persons  thus  predisposed,  steady  and 
agreeable  occupation,  which  does  not  try  the  patience 
or  temper,  or  involve  much  responsibility,  excitement, 
or  exhaustion,  is  in  the  highest  degree  desirable. 
Religious,  political,  and  reformatory  gatherings, 
where  the  passions  are  aroused  and  the  sympathies 
excited,  should  be  carefully  avoided,  together  with 
all  excitements  which  tend  to  disturb  the  sleep. 

Persons  predisposed  to  mental  disease  should  care- 
fully avoid  a  partial,  one-sided  cultivation  of  their 
mental  powers, — a  fault  to  which  their  mental  con- 
stitution renders  them  peculiarly  liable.  Let  them 
bear  in  mind  that  every  prominent  trait  of  character, 
intellectual  or  moral,  every  favorite  form  of  mental 
exercise,  is  liable  to  be  fostered  at  the  expense  of 
other  exercises  and  attributes,  until  it  becomes  an 
indication  of  actual  disease.  Here  lies  the  peculiar 
danger  that  the  very  thing  most  agreeable  to  their 
tastes  and  feelings  is  that  which  they  have  most  to 
fear.- 

There  is  another  disposition  of  mind  to  be  care- 
fully shunned  by  this  class  of  persons — that  of  al- 
lowing the  attention  to  be  engrossed  by  some  par- 

*  See  Part  III,  on  Mental  Training. 


226  CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT. 

ticular  interest  to  the  neglect  of  every  other,  even  of 
those  most  nearly  connected  with  the  welfare  of  the 
individual.  The  caution  is  especially  necessary  in  an 
age  where  intellectual  character  is  marked  by  strife 
and  conflict,  rather  than  calm  contemplation  of  phil- 
osophical inquiry ;  and  even  in  which  the  good  and 
true  is  pursued  with  an  ardor  more  indicative  of  ner- 
vous excitement  than  of  pure  unadulterated  emotion. 
Where  the  mind  of  a  person  revolves  in  a  very  nar- 
row circle  of  thought,  it  lacks  entirely  that  recupera- 
tive and  invigorating  power  which  springs  from  a 
wider  comprehension  of  things,  and  more  numerous 
objects  of  interest.  The  habit  of  brooding  over  a 
single  idea  is  calculated  to  dwarf  the  soundest  mind  ; 
but,  to  those  unfortunately  constituted,  it  is  positively 
dangerous,  because  they  are  easily  led  to  this  kind  of 
partial  mental  activity,  and  are  kept  from  running 
into  fatal  extremes  by  none  of  these  conservative 
agencies  which  a  broader  discipline  and  a  more  gen- 
erous culture  naturally  furnish.  The  result  of  this 
continual  dwelling  on  a  favorite  idea  is,  that  it  comes 
up  unbidden,  and  cannot  be  dismissed  at  pleasure. 
Reason,  fancy,  passion,  emotion — every  power  of  the 
mind,  in  short — are  pressed  into  its  service,  until  it  is 
magnified  into  gigantic  proportions,  and  endowed 
with  wonderful  attributes.  The  conceptions  become 
unnaturally  vivid,  the  general  views  narrow  and  dis- 
torted, the  proprieties  of  time  and  place  are  disre- 
garded, the  guiding,  controlling  power  of  the  mind 
is  disturbed,  and,  as  the  last  stage  of  this  melancholy 
process,  reason  is  completely  dethroned. 

Hence  for  the  moral  and  intellectual  elevation  we 


WHAT   WE   KNOW   ABOUT   INSANITY.  227 

are  not  to  look  exclusively  to  education,  but  to  what- 
ever tends  to  improve  the  bodily  constitution,  and 
especially  the  qualities  of  the  brain.  In  our  schemes 
of  philanthropy  we  are  apt  to  deal  with  men  as  if 
they  could  be  moulded  to  any  desirable  purpose, 
provided  only  the  right  instrumentalities  are  used ; 
ignoring  altogether  the  fact  that  there  is  a  physical 
organ  in  the  case,  where  original  endowments  must 
limit  very  strictly  our  range  of  moral  appliances. 
But  while  we  are  bringing  to  bear  upon  them  all  the 
kindly  influences  of  learning  and  religion,  let  us  not 
overlook  these  physical  agencies  which  determine  the 
efficacy  of  the  brain  as  the  material  instrument  of 
the  mind. 

It  is  to  one  only  of  these  pretended  benevolences 
that  we  designed  to  draw  attention,  when  we  wrote 
the  heading  of  this  chapter,  the  plea  of  insanity, 
which  is  now  so  rife, — which  is  to  become  the  scape- 
goat of  every  infraction  of  law,  and  justice,  and  right. 
Already  has  it  come  to  the  pass,  that  if  a  man  eats 
himself  to  death,  or  guzzles  bad  liquor  until  he  can 
guzzle  no  more,  or  studies  himself  to  a  skeleton  and 
then  jumps  into  the  river,  or  puts  a  bullet  through 
his  heart,  the  merciful  verdict  is,  "He  is  insane''  If 
he  forgets  his  friend's  name,  or  fires  his  neighbor's 
dwelling  or  his  own  store  to  secure  the  insurance  ;  or 
if  a  young  lady  allows  herself  to  be  abducted  by 
another  woman's  husband,  or  a  hysterical  daughter 
of  a  millionaire  marries  her  father's  coachman,  the 
convenient  cloak  of  "insanity"  is  benevolently  thrown 
around  the  delinquencies  and  aberrations  ;  and  the 
next  day  the  weak  and  the  unprincipled  alike  show 


228  CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT. 

themselves  in  the  streets,  the  "observed  of  all  observ- 
ers," the  lions  of  the  hour. 

Is  heaven-born  charity  and  her  sister,  true  benevo- 
lence, thus  to  mantle  over  all  that  is  dishonorable 
and  murderous,  and  to  cover  lechery  from  our  sight  ? 
These  things  ought  not  so  to  be.  The  true  philan- 
thropist of  our  day  and  generation  should  wake  up 
to  the  discovery  of  an  effectual  remedy  for  these 
evils. 

But  not  to  make  our  chapter  too  long,  we  propose, 
in  short,  that  all  persons  be  tried  for  the  crimes  fairly 
charged  against  them.  Let  the  majority  of  the  jury 
decide  on  the  verdict  as  to  the  fact  of  the  act ;  then 
let  the  plea  of  insanity  come  in.  If  not  sustained, 
let  the  law  take  its  course.  If  sustained,  let  the  per- 
son be  committed  to  an  insane  asylum  for  life,  if  the 
crime  was  a  capital  one,  or,  if  cured  of  their  insanity, 
to  be  transferred  to  the  penitentiary  for  the  remainder 
of  their  days. 

If  the  act  be  only  a  penitentiary  offense,  let  them 
be  sent  to  the  asylum,  to  remain  for  life,  or  until 
cured  ;  and  when  cured  let  them  serve  the  same  time 
in  the  penitentiary  which  they  would  have  done  had 
they  not  been  declared  insane.  For,  beyond  ques- 
tion, if  insane,  the  asylum  is  the  proper  place  for 
them ;  if  not  insane,  the  penitentiary  should  not  be 
cheated  of  its  workmen.  In  other  words,  either  have 
no  laws  or  enforce  those  we  have  enacted. 


CHAPTER   XVI. 

ON     CORPORAL     PUNISHMENT    IN     SCHOOLS. — IN     FAMI- 
LIES   AND    BY    THE    STATE. 

"  Spoil  the  rod  and  spare  the  child." 
Stay  thy  hand  and  think  ere  you  strike  the  innocent  one. 
Parent  do  not  chasten  your  child  by  inflicting  bodily  pain :  it  can  do  no  good. 

Parent,  teacher,  ponder  and  be  wise. 
Help  your  child  to  grow  and  rise 
To  the  land  of  angel  skies. 

The  correction  of  wrong  actions  in  the  child  by 
inflicting  bodily  pain  is  of  ancient  date,  and  had  its 
origin  in  the  belief  that  goodness  can  be  "put  into" 
the  child  by  the  free  use  of  the  rod.  Like  all  modes 
of  corporal  punishment  for  crime  inflicted  by  the 
state,  it  has  an  evil  effect  on  the  sufferer,  and,  instead 
of  instilling  virtue,  veracity,  intelligence,  social  and 
moral  goodness,  it  arouses  combative  and  revengeful 
feelings — in  the  child  as  well  as  in  the  adult.  It  was 
believed,  and  is  now,  to  some  extent,  that  when  a 
child  is  disobedient,  it  can  be  made  to  feel  sorry  for 
its  wrong  deeds  by  inflicting  pain  upon  the  corporal 
system.  This  mode  of  punishment  impresses  the 
child,  as  well  as  the  adult,  with  the  idea  that  parents, 
teachers,  and  officers  of  the  law  are  absolute  rulers, 
— monarchs, — rather  than  teachers  and  protectors. 
It  further  impresses  the  child  with  the  idea  that  it  is 
"  desperately  wicked,"  and  that  it  is  necessary  to  be 

229 


230  CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT. 

punished  about  so  much  daily  to  make  it  good.  I 
have  known  children — those  who  are  unnecessarily 
punished  by  their  parents  or  teachers — to  wonder 
why  they  have  not  had  their  usual  whipping,  if  it  has 
been  somewhat  prolonged  by  reason  of  the  mother 
feeling  more  harmonious  than  usual.  We  were  once 
at  a  neighbor's  house,  and  while  in  conversation  with 
the  mother,  the  little  three-year-old  suddenly  left  its 
busy  play,  and,  running  up,  said,  "  Ma,  I  haven't  had 
my  whipping  to-day."  It  is  also  a  doctrine  with 
those  who  punish  in  a  corporal  manner  that  by  the 
"  free  use  of  the  rod"  the  child  can  be  made  to  love 
its  parents,  its  teachers,  or  its  governess.  Some  of 
the  nations  of  earth,  evidently,  however,  of  doubtful 
civilization,  have  a  rule  for  the  husband  to  whip  his 
wife  each  day  to  make  her  love  him.  Where  the 
husband  neglects  this  duty,  the  wife,  knowing-  no 
other  mode  by  which  her  love  for  him  can  be  made 
stronger,  often  finds  fault  with  him  for  not  whipping 
more.  We  have  not  tried  this  means  of  making 
women  love  their  husbands  in  this  enlightened  coun- 
try ;  but  where  it  has  been  tried,  in  individual  in- 
stances, the  result,  it  is  said,  is  not  very  satisfactory. 
It  is  irrational  and  contrary  to  the  laws  of  nature 
to  entertain  the  thought  for  one  moment,  that  by  in- 
flicting bodily  torture  the  child's  grosser  nature  may 
be  thereby  subdued,  its  inclinations  to  do  wrong, 
cured,  or  its  unruly  disposition  conquered.  From 
the  light  we  have  on  the  subject,  we  think  we  can 
show  that  it  has  diametrically  the 

OPPOSITE  EFFECT. 


ON    CORPORAL    PUNISHMENT.  231 

The  child  reasons  as  well  as  the  adult,  only  the 
child  reasons  as  a  child,  and  not  as  a  man  or  woman 
would  reason.  The  child  has  feelings  as  well  as  the 
adult,  differing  only  in  degree  and  power.  To  make 
a  child  understand,  one  must  come  down  to  a  child's 
comprehension  ;  and  to  enforce  obedience  to  rule  or 
law,  the  child  requires  knowledge  of  the  nature  or 
character  of  such  rule  or  law.  Without  proper  in- 
struction and  acquired  constitutional  ability,  the  child 
will  not  be  competent  to  comply  with  the  laws  laid 
down  for  its  government.  Parents  and  teachers 
have,  then,  two  important  questions  to  solve,  first, 
that  of  the  child's  ability  to  obey  certain  restrictions, 
and  secondly,  if  they  are  not  requiring  more  of  a 
child  than  it  is  able  to  perform.  The  first  study  will 
be  how  to  increase  the  capabilities  of  the  child,  phy- 
sically as  well  as  mentally,  and  secondly,  how  to  pre- 
scribe for  its  government,  and  how  to  exercise  the 
acquired  capabilities  by  giving  practical  lessons  in 
every-day  life.  To  require  more  of  a  child  than  it  is 
capable  of  performing,  from  its  very  organization, 
age,  amount  of  education,  etc.,  can  only  irritate  and 
perplex  it.  We  ask,  then,  is  it  just  to  punish  in  a 
corporal  manner  a  child  who  is  incapable  of  obeying 
your  requirements ;  or  can  you  by  so  doing  increase 
its  natural  power  to  perform  ?  Here  we  have  an  ex- 
planation of  the  cause  of  so  much  correction,  scold- 
ing, and  whipping  in  the  family  and  the  school.  The 
truth  is,  too  much  is  required  of  the  child ;  besides 
which,  it  is  reproved,  and  many  times  punished,  for 
the  most  trivial  offenses.  At  length  the  child  will  no 
longer  try  to  do  right,  finding  it  so  unsuccessful,  and 


232  CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT. 

>t  will  come  to  the  conclusion  that  a  certain  amount 
of  punishment  is  part  of  life,  as  food  or  sleep.  Be- 
fore pursuing  this  subject  farther,  we  will  notice  the 
effect  which  corporal  punishment  has,  and  inquire 
whether  it  is 

THE    BEST    METHOD 

of  punishing  children.  The  only  lesson  that  a  child 
can  be  taught  by  the  infliction  of  bodily  pain  is  that 
it  is  organized  by  nature  to  suffer  pain.  The  first 
impulse  which  pain  produces  on  the  system  is  resis- 
tance. No  one  will  submit  to  pain  unless  positively 
overpowered.  Whatever  comes  in  contact  with  our 
bodies,  and  by  such  contact  produces  pain,  our  first 
effort  is  to  get  away  from  or  resist,  and  thus  relieve 
ourselves  from  suffering  as  soon  as  possible.  This 
is  one  of  the  first  laws  of  nature,  which  is  self-pro- 
tection. The  same  feeling  is  produced  in  the  child 
when  corporal  punishment  is  inflicted  for  wrong 
doing.  Resistance  is  not  only  a  nervous  or  physical 
force,  but  is  also  mental.  When  you  strike  your 
child  so  as  to  inflict  pain,  it  is  a  law  of  the  system  to 
protect  itself,  and  for  this  purpose  the  physical  forces 
refer  the  matter  to  the  brain  for  instruction.  The 
brain  and  nervous  system  receives  instruction  from 
the  mind,  and  the  first  faculty  which  is  aroused  is 
combativeness.  The  first  impulse  of  this  faculty  is 
to  strike  back,  to  evade  the  blows,  and  protect  its 
own  organism.  The  faculties  of  hatred  and  revenge 
are  also  brought  into  requisition.  Destructiveness 
is  always  close  at  hand  and  ready  to  be  employed. 


ON    CORPORAL    PUNISHMENT.  233 

This  is  the  reason  why  a  child,  when  it  is  punished 
so  as  to  produce  pain,  will  stamp,  kick,  strike,  bite, 
shed  tears,  and  plead  for  mercy,  and  promise  every- 
thing to  avoid  this  unnatural  mode  of  punishment. 
Reluctantly  we  must  make  a  statement,  which  is 
scarcely  credible,  nevertheless  it  is  true.  We  have 
seen  parents,  and  many  pretending  to  be  religious 
too,  who  punish  their  children  as  long  as  they  would 
resist  the  blows  of  the  rod,  often  until  they  became 
exhausted,  requiring  them  to  promise  to  be  good. 

Inflicting  any  sort  of  corporal  punishment,  however 
light  it  may  be,  outrages  the  digtiity  and  feeling  of 
the  child,  calls  into  activity  the  animal  nature,  and 
instead  of  restraining  their  evil  tendencies,  it  gives 
practical  lessons  how  to  carry  them  out.  Children, 
like  men  and  women,  have  certain  rights.  Strike  a 
man  or  woman,  with  a  view  to  make  them  obedient, 
humble,  and  submissive,  and  you  will  find  the  first 
effort  they  make  is  to  resent  the'  insult.  So  with  the 
child ;  the  first  thought  that  is  aroused  is  a  desire  to 
deal  back  the  blow,  and  to  defend  and  protect  its 
body.  It  is  difficult  to  know  where  the  evil  of  this 
inhuman  practice  of  punishing  may  end.  It  may 
bring  the  child  to  the  gallows,  for  by  it,  it  is  taught 
practical  lessons  in  crime. 

Nearly  all  persons,  who  resort  to  the  use  of  the  rod, 
while  punishing  a  child,  are.  angry,  often  speak  roughly, 
and  sometimes  use  profane  language.  Thus  the 
child  is  taught  how  to  be  angry,  how  to  speak  rough, 
how  to  swear,  how  to  be  inhuman  and  brutal.  Not 
more  than  one  in  a  hundred  ever  punish  without  re- 
quiring the  child  to  promise  to  be  good, — "  never  to 
do  so  again," — and  by  this  means  f~~~ ^  *u°  ~v:1  J  **? 


234  CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT. 

lie,  for  while  it  is  undergoing  punishment,  it  will 
promise  anything,  whether  it  can  keep  it  or  not. 
Many  parents  do  not  delight  in  punishing,  so  they 
keep  promising  all  day  long,"  to  whip"  and  "to  whip," 
and  yet  do  not  do  it.  This  is  giving  the  child  prac- 
tical lessons  in  lying.  Others  again  are  constantly 
scolding,  finding  fault  with  everything  the  child  does, 
and  it  soon  learns  that  whatever  its  parent  or  teacher 
says  is  very  doubtful,  and  it  grows  up  without  any 
real  culture  or  training.  To  tempt  a  child  into  wrong- 
doing, then,  punish  it.  Such  act  is  worse  than  bar- 
barous ;  yet  we  have  known  intelligent  persons  to  be 
guilty  of  it.  We  might  fill  a  volume  simply  in  enu- 
merating how  criminals  are  made  through  the  barbar- 
ous practice  of  inflicting  pain  as  a  punishment  for 
disobedience  in  the  child.  But  a  word  in  regard  to 
a  successful 

SUBSTITUTE. 

While  lecturing  on  this  subject,  in  the  state  of 
Indiana,  a  few  years  ago,  we  gave  permission  at  the 
close  of  the  lecture  for  any  one  to  ask  us  questions 
of  general  interest  bearing  on  the  subject  of  entirely 
abolishing  corporal  punishment.  A  lady  of  middle 
age,  of  the  mental  motive  temperament,  and  of  more 
than  ordinary  intelligence,  arose  in  the  audience  and 
said,  "  Doctor,  I  have  a  patient  for  you,  and  if  you 
can  prescribe  successfully,  in  accordance  with  the 
theory  you  advance,  I  will  give  up  the  question.  I 
have  a  boy,"  she  continued,  "  three  years  old,  who 
gets  angry  at  everything  that  don't  go  to  please  him, 


ON    CORPORAL    PUNISHMENT.  235 

and  when  he  takes  those  fits  of  anger,  he  throws 
himself  on  the  floor,  kicks,  and  stamps,  and  strikes 
the  floor  with  his  hands  and  head,  cries,  and  keeps 
this  up  until  I  comply  with  his  wishes,  or  I  must 
whip  him  until  he  is  conquered."  This,  she  said, 
"  would  take  place,  on  the  average,  three  or  four 
times  a  day ;  and,  Doctor,  I  have  done  everything  in 
my  power  to  overcome  this  terrible  disposition.  Now 
what  can  be  done  except  to  whip  this  ill  nature  right 
out  of  him  ?"  We  paused  a  moment,  and  gave  a 
glance  over  our  audience,  which  by  their  actions 
seemed  to  say,  "  There,  Doctor,  is  a  case  which  you 
can't  control  without  whipping."  We  could  hear  it 
whispered,  "  That's  a  stumper,"  and  many  were  ex- 
pecting an  admission  on  our  part  of  failure ;  but  we 
were  not  lost  for -an  answer,  or  fearful  to  make  an 
attempt  to  prescribe  for  the  case,  and  which  after- 
wards proved  a  perfect  cure.  It  was  a  difficult  case, 
and  the  first  of  the  kind  ever  brought  under  our  no- 
tice. "  This  child  is  too  young  to  reason,"  one  ob- 
served ;  and  another  said,  "  Doctor,  you  will  have  to 
give  it  up  ;  it  is  necessary  to  punish  by  inflicting 
bodily  pain  to  conquer  some  children."  We  turned 
to  the  lady,  and  said,  "  Will  you,  in  the  presence  of 
this  audience,  agree  to  follow  our  directions  so  far  as 
lies  in  your  power  ?"  To  which  she  agreed. 

We  then- gave  the  following  direction.  "  In  the 
first  place,"  we  remarked,  "  it  will  be  necessary  to  re- 
move all  possible  causes  which  have  a  tendency  to 
cross  your  child.  His  surroundings  must  be  as  har- 
monious as  possible,  and,  to  accomplish  this,  it  will 
require  some  study.  Whatever  crosses  your  child, 


236  CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT. 

avoid  the  occurrence  of.  And,  in  the  second  place, 
do  not  try  to  force  him  into  submission.  It  is 
dangerous  to  attempt  to  force  such  children  into 
absolute  submission  without  giving  time  for  them  to 
outgrow  their  ill  nature.  The  danger  is  in  the  liabil- 
ity of  superinducing  diseases  of  the  body,  while 
mentally  they  are  liable  to  become  imbecile.  Do 
not  cross  your  child  too  much,  but  gradually  divert 
his  attention,  and,  instead  of  finding  fault  with  him 
for  every  trivial  offense,  praise  him  much  ;  and  after 
you  have  excited  his  faculty  of  approbativeness,  then 
bring  to  bear  your  ideas  as  to  his  wrong  deeds. 
This  can  be  done  without  deceiving  him,  for  every 
child  has  some  virtue.  If  you  are  constantly  harping 
on  your  neighbor's  defective  points,  you  will  drive 
him  from  you,  and  bring  ridicule  upon  yourself." 

We  further  remarked  to  this  lady :  "  When  your 
child  takes  one  of  those  terrible  angry  fits,  then  go 
away  from  him,  rather  abruptly,  and  simply  remark, 
1  Mamma  don't  like  to  see  Willie  do  so  !'  Go  out  of 
the  room,  close  the  door  and  say  no  more  to  him 
about  his  conduct.  But  do  not  stand  at  the  door, 
asking  him  if  '  Willie  is  good,'  '  Shall  mamma  come 
back  ?'  as  you  will  only  make  bad  worse.  You  may 
look  through  the  key-hole,  and  you  will  find  him  in 
a  few  moments  composed,  and  looking  around  and 
viewing  his  situation.  Finding  he  is  alone,  he  will 
now  feel  truly  sorry,  and  will  call  for  his  mamma. 
You  now  may  enter  the  room,  cheerful,  smiling.  Take 
him  up  in  your  arms  and  kiss  him,  and  never  refer  to 
his  conduct  until  you  are  [sure  he  is  perfectly  calm. 
For  a  change  of  treatment,  you  may  turn  him  out  a 


ON    CORPORAL    PUNISHMENT.  237 

few  times,  or  give  no  attention  to  him  whatever,  not 
even  to  speak  to  him.  Do  not  try  to  persuade  him 
or  scold  him,  or  promise  him  anything  while  he  is  in 
anger, — do  not  try  to  coax  him  or  to  force  him, — but 
when  he  is  good,  treat  him  kindly.  Be  positive  in 
all  your  treatment  of  him,  but  kind  and  loving  as 
well,  and,  my  word  for  it,  your  boy  will  soon  be  all 
you  desire  him  to  be." 

About  six  months  after  we  gave  this  advice,  we  re- 
ceived a  letter  from  this  lady,  stating  that  her  boy 
was  almost  entirely  free  from  his  malady.  If  this 
kind  of  punishment  will  effectually  cure  one  of  the 
worst  dispositions,  then,  we  ask,  will  it  not  answer  in 
milder  forms  of  obstinate  organization ;  and  if  it 
can  be  done  in  the  family,  we  claim  it  can  be  made  a 
success  in  the  school. 

In  1867,  we  visited  quite  a  number  of  schools  in 
different  cities  in  Ohio,  for  the  purpose  of  informing 
ourselves  how  the  new  system  of  school  government 
succeeded ;  and  we  found  those  that  had  totally 
abolished  corporal  punishment  the  most  happy. 
The  best  schools  are  in  Dayton,  Ohio.  They  are 
constructed  and  conducted  as  nearly  correct  as  any 
we  have  ever  visited ;.  especially  the  new  school,  in 
the  sixth  district.  Every  room  is  well  furnished  with 
portraits,  landscape  paintings,  house  plants,  and  flow- 
ers of  every  kind.  This  variety  of  scenery  is  untir- 
ing to  the  eye,  and  pleasing  to  the  child.  Each  pupil 
is  seated  separately,  with  a  desk  before  him.  The 
house  is  heated  by  steam-pipes  running  through 
every  room ;  good  facilities  for  ventilation.  The 
classes  are  drilled  in  a  large  music-hall  each  day,  in 
gymnastic  exercises,  vocal  music,  etc.  This  gives 


238  CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT. 

the  mind  rest  and  the  body  exercise,  thus  developing 
both.  Scarcely  any  corporal  punishment  is  resorted 
to.  Several  of  the  superintendents  of  the  schools 
inform  us,  however,  that  those  children  who  are 
whipped  and  knocked  about  at  home  require  to  be 
punished  in  that  way  at  school.  This  is  a  disgraceful 
report  for  those  parents  who  are  continually  whipping 
their  children,  as  many  unwisely  do. 

In  speaking  of  certain  injurious  influences  of 
schools  upon  the  health  and  welfare  of  children, 
Prof.  Rud.  Virchow  closes  an  interesting  paper  by 
enumerating  the  following  agencies  as  of  importance : 

"  i .  TJie  air  in  the  school-room,  the  quality  of  which  is  deter- 
mined by  the  size  of  the  room,  the  number  of  pupils,  the  mode 
of  heating,  the  ventilation,  moisture  of  the  floor  and  walls,  dust 
(cleanliness.) 

"  2.  The  light,  as  determined  by  the  situation  of  the  building 
and  room,  the  size  of  the  windows  and  their  relation  to  the  desks, 
the  color  of  the  walls  and  surroundings,  artificial  light  (gas,  oil.) 

"  3.  The  sitting  in  the  school-room,  especially  the  relations  of 
desk  and  seat,  size  of  the  seats,  their  arrangement,  and  duration 
of  sitting. 

"4.  Bodily  exercise,  especially  playing,  gymnastics,  swimming, 
their  relations  to  sitting  and  to  the  purely  mental  labor,  their 
arrangements  and  superintendence. 

"5.  Mental  exertion,  its  duration  and  variety,  the  individual 
amount,  the  arrangement  and  duration  of  recesses  and  vacations, 
the  extent  of  home  and  school  exercises,  the  date  of  the  com- 
mencement of  obligatory  attendance,  etc. 

"  6.  The  punishments,  especially  corporal. 

"  7.  The  water  for  drinking. 

"8.  Ite  privies. 

"  9.  The  means  (implements)  of  instruction,  especially  the  choice 
of  school  books  (size  of  type),  and  objects  of  illustration." — St. 
Louis  Med.  and  Surg.  Journal,  from  Virchow V  Archiv.  and  Boston 
Medical  and  Surgical  Journal. 


ON    CORPORAL    PUNISHMENT.  239 

The  subject  of  corporal  punishment  of  children 
is  now  being  rapidly  abolished  in  schools,  and  the 
most  intelligent  have  long  since  wholly  discarded  it 
in  their  families.  The  day  is  not  far  distant  when 
parents  will  learn  thn.t  kind  words  will  do  more  than 
the  rod.  The  eminent  Prof.  G.  T.  Wise,  of  Ohio,  said 
in  a  closing  address  on  this  subject : 

"  Oh  pause  !  ye  heartless  and  unthinking  parent  or 
teacher,  ere  the  cruel  rod  in  thy  uplifted  hand  de- 
scends upon  the  back  of  thy  wayward  child. 

"We  do  not  believe  in  the  torturing  of  children; 
the  practice  belongs  only  to  the  heathen  mothers  of 
the  Ganges,  and  to  the  barbarous  nations  and  ages  of 
the  past.  It  must  not  be  in  this  enlightened  day ;  it 
is  revolting  to  God  and  conscientious  humanity. 
Science,  experience,  and  the  finer  sensitive  nature 
declaim  against  it.  The  sayings  of  the  wise  man, 
Solomon,  would  have  been  indeed  more  properly 
rendered  :  "  Spoil  the  rod  and  spare  the  child."  Talk 
about  breaking  their  stubborn  spirits  !  Nonsense  ! 
It  is  nothing  more  or  less  than  stifling  their  innocent 
prattle,  their  merry  laughter,  and  their  pure  and 
guileless  emotions,  which  only  annoy  prudish,  ner- 
vous, old-maid  school-marms  and  crusty,  disappointed 
old  bachelors. 

'"I  love  it,  I  love  it,  so  merry  and  wild, 

The  artless  and  innocent  laugh  of  the  child.' 

"  Better  indeed  have  them  grow  up  perverse  and 
wayward  than  be  reduced  to  an  idiotic  servility  by 
blows  from  the  rod  upon  the  body,  head,  and  face, 
which  seems  to  be  indulged  in  by  many  parents  and 
teachers  as  though  it  were  a  pleasant  pastime. 


240  CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT. 

"  There  is  a  proper  remedy  for  all  the  little  errors 
of  childhood.  It  is  the  gentle,  yet  ail-powerfully  per- 
suasive influence  of  love  upon  their  tender,  childish, 
and  impressible  hearts.  The  very  name  and  essence 
of  God  is  Love,  and  by  it  are  all  things  to  be  sub- 
dued in  gentleness,  to  his  will.  All-persuading  love 
is  alone  sufficient  for  the  governing  of  our  household 
pets.  If  it  should  fail  then,  though  the  first  instance 
has  yet  to  be  recorded,  you  will  seek  in  vain  for  an 
antidote  in  the  cruel  rod.  Do  not  then  clip  the  little 
bright  wings  of  childish  thoughts,  but  make  the  air 
fragrant  and  balmy  with  love  where  first  shall  begin 
their  puny  flight;  and  in  after  years,  when  the  many 
wintry  storms  of  life  have  wrinkled  the  fair  brows, 
and  given  in  exchange  for  their  chaplets  of  golden 
ringlets  the  silvery  crown  of  age,  even  then  the  very 
atmosphere  in  which  they  live  and  move  will  be 
serene  and  redolent  with  sweet  odors  of  love  and 
good  will  for  their  fellowmen." 

We  think  it  will 

BE   ADMITTED 

that  corporal  punishment  in  schools,  in  the  family 
and  by  the  state  is  productive  of  farther  crime.  It  is 
not  reformatory;  it  is  not  compensatory.  It  can  do 
no  good  and  will  not  even  deter  others  from  commit- 
ing  future  crime.  Inquire  into  the  history  of  any  of 
our  criminals,  and  it  will  be  found  that  they  were 
punished  by  the  use  of  the  rod  while  young.  They 
were  not  brought  up  under  the  genial  influences  of 
kind  words. 


ON    CORPORAL    PUNISHMENT.  241 

Most  people  think  it  is  time  enough  to  educate  the 
reasoning  faculties  when  their  children  have  arrived 
at  the  age  of  puberty,  but  that  while  young  they 
must  be  whipped  into  obedience.  When  we  hear  a 
mother  say  to  her  child  every  five  minutes,  "  Don't 
do  so,  or  I'll  whip  you,"  or  see  her,  instead  of  merely 
promising  to  whip,  actually  strike  the  child  for  every 
little  offence,  we  think  of  the  end  of  these  children. 
Here  is  where  our  criminals  are  manufactured.  We 
have  known  parents  to  cut  the  skin  of  their  children 
by  striking  them  with  a  raw-hide,  or  otherwise  punish 
with  unreasonable  severity.  We  have  brought  legal 
action  against  such  persons  frequently,  and  here  is  a 
work  for  the  humane  society — the  protection  of  our 
innocent  children  as  well  as  animals.  As  a  rule,  the 
more  children  are  punished  by  the  use  of  the  rod,  in 
the  family  or  while  at  school,  the  better  will  they  be 
qualified  to  commit  crime  in  after  life.  We  are 
acquainted  with  a  clergyman  who  believed  it  a  relig- 
ious duty  to  "spare  not  the  rod."  He  had  four  sons 
and  three  daughters.  He  once  said  to  us  in  conversa- 
tion on  this  subject,  "  that  he  kept  two  instruments 
on  hand  for  the  proper  government  of  his  family — 
the  Bible  and  a  hickory  rod."  Two  of  this  man's 
sons  have  been  convicted  a  number  of  times  for 
stealing,  and  one  is  now  serving  his  time  in  the  state's 

o7  o 

prison,  while  one  of  the  daughters  is  unfortunate  for 
life.  As  a  means  of  ascertaining  whether  our  account 
is  true,  let  the  judges  of  %our  courts  and  the  justices 
of  the  peace  question  every  criminal  brought  before 
them  for  one  year,  and  it  will  be  found  that  each  will 
give  a  history  in  favor  of  our  position,  viz.,  that  while 

16 


242  CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT. 

young  they  received  a  regular  amount  of  corporal 
punishment.  It  is  not  the  severity  of  the  punishment 
that  makes  children  better,  but  judicious  and  certain 
means  of  correction  which  will  do  the  work  when 
administered  in  a  proper  spirit.  The  following  nar- 
rative is  copied  from  Hall's  Journal  of  Health,  on 

PARENTAL   CORRECTION: 

"  That  man  commits  a  crime,  and  so  does  the  woman, 
who  will  send  a  child  to  bed  with  a  wounded  spirit,  or 
who  shall  allow  any  vindictiveness  of  feeling  to  exist 
in  consequence  of  anything  the  child  may  have  done. 
Sharp-pointed  memories  have  often  driven  men  mad  ; 
multitudes  are  there  who  are  more  dead  than  alive, 
from  the  ailings  of  the  mind,  which  is  wasting  itself 
away  in  vain  remorses  for  the  irrevocable  past.  The 
fault  of  most  parents  is  over-harsh  reproofs  of  their 
.children  ;  reproofs  that  are  hasty,  unproportioned  to 
the  offense,  and  hence,  as  to  one's  own  child,  helpless 
and  unresisting,  are  a  cruelty  as  well  as  an  injustice. 
Thrice  happy  is  that  parent  who  has  no  child  in  the 
grave  which  can  be  wished  back,  only  if  for  a  brief 
space,  so  as  to  afford  some  opportunity  for  repairing 
some  unmerited  unkindness  toward  the  dead  darling. 
Parents  have  been  many  times  urged  in  these  pages 
to  make  persistent  efforts  to  arrange  two  things  in 
domestic  intercourse,  and  to  spare  no  pains  and  no 
amount  of  moral  courage  and  determination,  in  order 
that  they  should  be  brought  about.  It  may  require 
a  thousand  efforts,  and  there  may  be  a  thousand  fail- 
ures, as  discouraging  as  thev  are  sad ;  still  let  the 


ON   CORPORAL    PUNISHMENT.  243 

high  resolve  go  out,  "  it  shall  be  done  P  and  the  prick- 
ling of  many  a  thorn  will  be  spared  in  after  years 
and  in  old  age.  The  two  points  to  be  daily  aimed  at 
are: 

First.  Let  the  family  table  be  always  a  meeting- 
place  of  pleasantness,  and  affection  and  peace,  and 
for  the  exhibition  of  all  the  sweeter  feelings'  of  do- 
mestic life. 

Second.  Let  every  child  be  sent  to  bed  with  kisses 
of  affection,  especially  those  under  ten  years  of  age. 

All  that  is  on  this  globe  could  not  hire  me  to  be 
put  in  the  place  of  either  the  father  or  the  mother  in 
the  following  narration  of  the  former  editor  of  a 
monthly  of  deserved  repute  in  its  time.  The  occur- 
rence took  place  in  Boston,  about  the  year  1850,  and 
every  detail  is  minutely  and  literally  true  : 

"  A  few  weeks  before,  L.  B.  H.  wrote  to  me  that  he 
had  buried  his  eldest  son,  a  fine,  manly  little  fellow  of 
eight  years  of  age,  who  had  never  known  a  day's 
illness  until  that  which  finally  removed  him  hence,  to 
be  here  no  more.  His  death  occurred  under  circum- 
stances which  were  peculiarly  painful  to  his  parents. 
A  younger  brother,  a  delicate,  sickly  child  from  its 
birth,  the  next  in  age  to  him,  had  been  down  for 
nearly  a  fortnight  with  an  epidemic  fever.  In  conse- 
quence of  the  nature  of  the  disease,  every  precaution 
had  been  adopted,  that  prudence  suggested,  to  guard 
the  other  members  of  the  family  against  it.  But  of 
this  one,  the  father's  eldest,  he  said  he  had  little  to 
fear,  so  rugged  was  he  and  so  generally  healthy. 
Still,  however,  he  kept  a  vigilant  eye  upon  him,  and 
especially  forbade  his  going  into  the  pools  and  docks 


244  CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT. 

near  his  school,  which  it  was  his  custom  sometimes  to 
visit ;  for  he  was  but  a  boy,  and  '  boys  will  be  boys/ 
and  we  ought  more  frequently  to  think  that  it  is  their 
nature  to  be.  Of  all  unnatural  things,  a  reproach 
almost  to  childish  frankness  and  innocence,  save  me 
from  a  '  boy-man  !'  But  to  the  story. 

"  One  evening  this  unhappy  father  came  home, 
wearied  with  a  long  day's  hard  labor,  and  vexed  at 
some  little  disappointments  which  had  soured  his 
naturally  kind  disposition,  and  rendered  him  pecu- 
liarly susceptible  to  the  smallest  annoyance.  While 
he  was  sitting  by  the  fire,  in  this  unhappy  mood  of 
mind,  his  wife  entered  the  apartment  and  said : 

" '  Henry  has  just  come  in, -and  he  is  a  perfect  fright. 
He  is  covered  from  head  to  foot  with  dock  mud,  and 
is  as  wet  as  a  drowned  rat !' 

" '  Where  is  he  ?'  asked  the  father,  sternly. 

"'He  is  shivering  over  the  kitchen-fire.  He  was 
afraid  to  come  up  here  when  the  girl  told  him  you 
had  come  home/ 

"'Tell  Jane  to  tell  him  to  come  here  this  instant !' 
was  the  brief  reply  to  this  information. 

"  Presently  the  poor  boy  entered,  half  perished  with 
affright  and  cold.  His  father  danced  at  his  sad 

o  o 

plight,  reproached  him  bitterly  with  his  disobedience, 
spoke  of  the  punishment -which  awaited  him  in  the 
morning,  as  the  penalty  for  his  offense,  and  in  a  harsh 
voice  concluded  with : 

" '  Now,  sir,  go  to  your  bed !' 

" '  But,  father/  said  the  little  fellow, '  I  want  to  tell 
you — ' 

" '  Not  a  word,  sir  ;  go  to  bed!' 


ON    CORPORAL    PUNISHMENT.  245 

"  *  I  only  wanted  to  say,  father,  that — ' 

"  With  a  peremptory  stamp,  an  imperative  wave  of 
his  hand  toward  the  door,  and  a  frown  upon  his  brow, 
did  that  father,  without  other  speech,  again  close  the 
door  of  explanation  and  expostulation. 

"  When  the  boy  had  gone  supperless  and  sad  to 
his  bed,  the  father  sat  restless  and  uneasy  while  sup- 
per was  being  prepared,  and  at  tea-table  ate  but  little. 
His  wife  saw  the  real  cause,  or  the  additional  cause 
of  his  emotion,  and  interposed  the  remark : 

"'I  think,  my  dear,  you  ought  at  least  to  have 
heard  what  Henry  had  to  say.  My  heart  ached  for 
him  when  he  turned  away  with  his  eyes  full  of  tears. 
Henry  is  a  good  boy,  after  all,  if  he  does  sometimes 
do  wrong.  He  is  a  tender-hearted,  affectionate  boy. 
He  always  was.' 

"  And  therewithal  the  water  stood  in  the  eyes  of 
that  forgiving  mother,  even  as  it  stood  in  the  eyes  of 
Mercy,  in  'the  house  of  the  Interpreter,'  as  recorded 
by  Bunyan. 

"  After  tea  the  evening  paper  was  taken  up  ;  but 
there  was  no  news  and  nothing  of  interest  for  that 
father  in  the  journal  of  that  evening.  He  sat  for 
some  time  in  an  evidently  painful  reverie,  and  then 
rose  and  repaired  to  his  bedchamber.  As  he  passed 
the  bedroom  where  his  little  boy  slept,  he  thought  he 
would  look  in  upon  him  before  retiring  to  rest  He 
crept  to  his  low  cot,  and  bent  over  him.  A  big  tear 
had  stolen  down  the  boy's  cheek  and  rested  upon  it, 
but  he  was  sleeping  calmly  and  sweetly.  The  father 
deeply  regretted  his  harshness  as  he  gazed  upon  his 
son,  but  he  felt  also  the  '  sense  of  duty  ;'  yet  in  the 


246  CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT. 

night,  talking  the  matter  over  with  the  lad's  mother, 
he  resolved  and  promised,  instead  of  punishing,  as 
he  had  threatened,  to  make  amends  to  the  boy's  ag- 
grieved spirit  in  the  morning  for  the  manner  in  which 
he  had  repelled  all  explanation  of  his  offense. 

"  But  that  morning  never  came  to  the  poor  child 
in  health.  He  awoke  the  next  morning  with  a  raging 
fever  on  his  brain,  and  wild  with  delirium.  In  forty- 
eight  hours  he  was  in  his  shroud.  He  knew  neither 
his  father  nor  his  mother,  when  they  were  first  called 
to  his  bedside,  nor  at  any  moment  afterward.  Wait- 
ing, watching  for  one  token  of  recognition,  hour  after 
hour,  in  speechless  agony,  did  that  unhappy  father 
bend  over  the  couch  of  his  dying  son.  Once,  indeed, 
he  thought  he  saw  a  smile  of  recognition  light  up 
his  dying  eye,  and  he  leaned  eagerly  forward,  for  he 
would  have  given  worlds  to  have  whispered  one 
kind  word  in  his  ear  and  have  been  answered ;  but 
that  gleam  of  apparent  intelligence  passed  quickly 
away,  and  was  succeeded  by  the  cold,  unmeaning 
glare,  and  the  wild  tossing  of  the  fevered  limbs, 
which  lasted  until  death  came  to  his  relief. 

"  Two  days  afterward  the  undertaker  came  with 
the  little  coffin,  and  his  son,  a  playmate  of  the  de- 
ceased boy,  bringing  the  low  stools  on  which  it  was 
to  stand  in  the  entry-hall. 

"'I  was  with  Henry/  said  the  lad,  *  when  he  got 
into  the  water.  We  were  playing  down  at  the  Long 
Wharf,  Henry,  and  Frank  Mumford  and  I ;  and  the 
tide  was  out  very  low,  and  there  was  a  beam  run  out 
from  the  wharf,  and  Charles  got  out  on  it  to  get  a 
fish-line  and  hook  that  hung  over  where  the  water 


ON    CORPORAL    PUNISHMENT.  247 

was  deep,  and  the  first  thing  we  saw  he  had  slipped 
off  and  was  struggling  in  the  water!  Henry  threw 
off  his  cap  and  jumped  clear  from  the  wharf  into 
the  water,  and  after  a  great  deal  of  hard  work,  got 
Charles  out ;  and  they  waded  up  through  the  mud 
to  where  the  wharf  was  not  so  wet  and  slippery,  and 
then  I  helped  them  to  climb  up  the  side.  Charles 
told  Henry  not  to  say  anything  about  it,  for  if  he 
did  his  father  would  never  let  him  go  near  the  water 
again.  Henry  was  very  sorry,  and  all  the  way  going 
home  he  kept  saying: 

" '  What  will  father  say  when  he  sees  me  to-night  ? 
I  wish  we  had  not  gone  to  the  wharf!' 

" '  Dear,  brave  boy  !f  exclaimed  the  bereaved  father ; 
1  and  this  was  the  explanation  which  I  so  cruelly  re- 
fused to  hear  !'  and  hot  and  bitter  tears  rolled  down 
his  cheeks. 

"  Yes,  that  stern  father  now  learned,  and  for  the 
first  time,  that  what  he  had  treated  with  unwonted 
seventy  as  a  fault  was  but  the  impulse  of  a  generous 
nature,  which,  forgetful  of  self,  had  hazarded  life  for 
another.  It  was  but  the  quick  prompting  of  that 
manly  spirit  which  he  himself  had  always  endeavored 
to  graft  upon  his  susceptible  mind,  and  which,  young 
as  he  was,  had  already  manifested  itself  on  more  than 
one  occasion. 

"  Let  me  close  this  story  in  the  very  words  of  that 
father,  and  let  the  lesson  sink  deep  into  the  heart  of 
every  parent  who  shall  peruse  this  sketch  : 

" '  Everything  that  I  now  see  that  ever  belonged  to 
him  reminds  me  of  my  lost  boy.  Yesterday  I  found 
some  rude  pencil  sketches,  which  it  was  his  delight 


248  CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT. 

to  make  for  the  amusement  of  his  younger  brother. 
To-day,  in  rummaging  an  old  closet,  I  came  across 
his  boots,  still  covered  with  dock  mud,  as  when  he 
last  wore  them.  (You  may  think  it  strange,  but  that 
which  is  usually  so  unsightly  an  object  is  now  most 
precious  to  me.)  And  every  morning  and  evening  I 
pass  the  ground  where  my  son's  voice  rang  the  mer- 
riest among  his  playmates. 

"  *  All  these  things  speak  to  me  vividly  of  his  active 
life,  but  I  can  not — though  I  have  often  tried — I  can 
not  recall  any  other  expression  on  the  dear  boy's  face 
than  that  mute,  mournful  one  with  which  he  turned 
from  me  on  the  night  I  so  harshly  repulsed  him.  . .  . 
Then  my  heart  bleeds  afresh  ! 

" '  Oh  !  how  careful  should  we  be  that  in  our  daily 
conduct  toward  those  little  beings  sent  us  by  a  kind 
Providence,  we  are  not  laying  up  for  ourselves  the 
sources  of  many  a  future  bitter  tear!  How  cautious 
that,  neither  by  inconsiderate  nor  cruel  word  or  look, 
we  unjustly  grieve  their  generous  feeling  !  And  how 
guardedly  ought  we  to  weigh  every  action  against  its 
motive,  lest,  in  a  moment  of  excitement,  we  be  led 
to  mete  out  to  the  venial  errors  of  the  heart  the 
punishment  due  only  to  wilful  crime ! 

" '  Alas !  perhaps  few  parents  suspect  how  often 
the  fierce  rebuke,  the  sudden  blow,  is  answered  in 
their  children  by  the  tears,  not  of  passion,  not  of 
physical  or  mental  pain,  but  of -a  loving  yet  grieved 
or  outraged  nature  P  " 

But  why  in  this  sad  case  should  the  mother  be 
called  to  weep  tears  of  blood,  and  be  considered  a 
partaker  of  the  father's  fault  ?  It  was  for  the  crimi- 


ON    CORPORAL    PUNISHMENT.  249 

nal  want  of  judgment  and  consideration  on  her  part. 
The  father  had  come  home  wearied  and  discouraged 
in  connection  with  the  business  of  the  day,  was  sit- 
ting by  the  fire  in  a  moody  state  of  mind,  and  the 
mother  bursts  in  upon  him  with  the  announcement 
of  the  boy's  condition,  without  acquainting  herself 
with  the  circumstances,  and  without  uttering  one 
word  of  extenuation,  but  presenting  the  case  to  the 
father's  mind  in  the  strongest  terms  of  aggravation. 
No  wonder,  under  all  the  circumstances,  the  husband 
should  have  fired  up,  and  that  he  should  have  been 
driven  on  like  one  unpossessed  of  himself.  Had  the 
mother  possessed  but  a  small  share  of  observation, 
and  even  a  less  amount  of  common  sense,  she  would 
herself  have  inquired  into  all  the  circumstances  of 
the  case,  and  begun  the  history  by  extolling  the  noble- 
ness of  their  son ;  then  it  would  have  had  a  calming, 
compensating  effect  on  the  father's  mind ;  it  would 
have  been  drawn  away  from  business,  and  would 
have  nestled  itself  lovingly  amid  the  darling  ones 
around  him. 

Even  if  there  had  been  no  extenuating  circum- 
stances, she  ought  to  have  had  wit  enough  to  have 
respected  the  humor  of  her  husband  ;  she  ought  to 
have  seen  in  a  moment  that  something  had  gone 
wrong  with  him,  and  should  have  studiously  kept  from 
saying  or  doing  anything  which  could  by  any  possi- 
bility have  roused  him  into  a  tempest  of  uncontrol- 
lable passion.  There  are  many  other  just  such 
thoughtless,  hare-brained  women,  who  deserve  neither 
the  name  of  mother  nor  wife,  who  seem  to  glory  in 
dashing  at  their  husbands  the  instant  they  open  the 


250  CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT. 

door,  on  their  return  from  a  hard  day's  toil,  of  body 
or  of  mind,  and  with  amazing  volubility,  pour  out  the 
mishaps,  vexations,  and  misfortunes  of  the  day,  and 
in  a  way,  too,  as  if  »the  husband  was  wholly  to  blame, 
although  he  may  not  have  had  the  slightest  connec- 
tion with  them,  in  the  most  remote  manner  possible. 

Another  inexcusable  folly  was  in  the  father  threat- 
ening to  punish  the  child  next  day ;  leaving  the  little 
fellow's  mind  to  exaggerate  it  in  his  fears,  and  be  a 
living  torture  until  the  end  came.  Not  long  ago,  we 
read  an  account  of  an  editor  who  sent  his  little  son 
to  an  upstairs  room,  and  had  the  door  locked,  with 
the  threat  that  he  would  be  flogged  at  the  end  of  a 
certain  number  of  hours.  True  to  his  word,  he  went 
to  the  door  at  the  appointed  time,  and  in  the  unlock- 
ing of  it  the  child  was  so  alarmed  that  he  ran  to  the 
window,  jumped  out  and  broke  his  neck.  It  is  the 
limit  of  folly  and  the  refinement  of  cruelty  to  threaten 
punishment  to  a  child  for  a  thing  done.  If  punish- 
ment is  merited,  it  should  be  inflicted  and  then  dis- 
missed ;  yet  there  are  parents  not  a  few  who  seem  to 
have  a  malignant  pleasure,  after  children  have  been 
reproved  or  otherwise  punished  for  a  specific  fault, 
in  reminding  them  of  it  on  every  possible  occasion 
for  months  afterward ;  the  certain  effect  of  which  is 
to  induce  a  kind  of  desperation  in  the  mind  of  the 
child,  and  a  "  don't  care"  feeling,  which  can  not  fail  to 
have  a  most  unfortunate  influence  on  that  child's 
character  for  all  its  life  thereafter. 

Let  parents,  then,  who  would  avoid  an  old  age  of 
agony,  in  connection  with  harshness,  injustice,  and 
even  cruelty  to  their  children,  remember  never  to 


ON    CORPORAL    PUNISHMENT.  251 

punish  or  even  threaten  a  child  under  the  influence 
of  a  passionate  state  of  the  mind,  because  the  mor- 
row may  bring  death,  and  no  other  compensation  can 
be  ever  made. 

There  is  a  physiological  view  to  be  taken  of  this 
case,  which  may  be  communicated  with  profit.  Even 
if  the  child  had  been  ever  so  much  to  blame,  he 
should  have  been  tenderly  dealt  with  as  to  the  present. 
His  mind  and  body  had  been  most  intensely  exer- 
cised, and  the  reaction  had  left  the  whole  system  in 
a  state  of  complete  exhaustion.  In  addition,  the 
body  was  chilled.  He  should  have  been  cleansed 
and  redressed  with  all  a  mother's  affection ;  a  warm 
supper  and  some  hot  drink  should  have  been  given 
him,  and  he  should  have  been  put  to  sleep  tenderly, 
in  a  warm  bed.  But  instead  of  all  this,  he  was  cold, 
wet,  hungry,  "shivering,"  sent  to  bed,  his  feelings 
"  hurt,"  to  an  extent  which  words  can  not  express. 
We  almost  feel  as  if  the  father  of  the  unfortunate 
boy  was  entitled  to  the  designation  of  "  savage,"  and 
his  wife,  a  poor,  hasty,  weak-minded  nonentity,  worse 
than  no  wife  at  all." 

It  is  not  necessary  to  say  that  the  parent  who 
inflicted  the  unjust  punishment,  as  reported  in  the 
previous  narrative,  was  sufficiently  punished,  although 
not  dealt  with  legally.  How  many  thousand  parents 
treat  their  children  in  a  similar  manner.  Here  les- 
sons are  instilled  which  culminate  in  crime. 

Before  closing  this  chapter,  we  will  pen  a  few 
maxims,  which,  if  strictly  observed  in  the  govern- 
ment of  children,  will  render  correction  by  corporal 
punishment  entirely  unnecessary : 


252  CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT. 

1.  Never  require  your  child  to   do  more  than  it  is 
competent  to  perform. 

2.  Educate  its  faculties  as  fast  as  it  is  capable  of 
comprehending.      "  Little    by     little    lofty    temples 
grow." 

3.  Never  strike  your  child  so  as  to  inflict  bodily 
pain:  it  will  not  reform  it;  it  will  not  make  it  love 
you. 

4.  Never  leave  home  without  kissing  your  children, 
or  on  putting  them  to  bed,  or  on  rising  in  the  morn- 
ing.    "  Oh  !  how  much  there  is  in  a  kiss  !" 

5.  Never  act  or  speak  in  any  other  manner,  in  the 
presence  of  your  child,  than  you  would,  under  the 
same  circumstances,  if  in  the  presence  of  the  most 
distinguished  person.     "  Respect  your  child,  and  it 
will  respect  you." 

6.  Appeal  to  the  judgment  of  your  child  as  well  as 
present  your  own  for  its  consideration. 

7.  Never  correct  your  child  while  in  an   irritable 
mood :  you  will  only  set  a  bad  example,  giving  the 
child  practical  lessons  in  the  manifestation  of  angry 
passions.      Remember,   the   child    copies    after    the 
parent. 

8.  Never   reprove   or   correct   your   child   in    the 
presence  of  strangers :  this  will   only  wound  its  feel- 
ings.    Train  your  child  to  behave  in  the  private  nur- 
sery of  the  family  as  you  would  have  it  in  the  presence 
of  strangers. 

9.  The  father  and  mother  never  should  differ  in 
opinion  as  to  the  mode  or  necessity  of  correction  in 
presence  of  the  child.     For  the  child  will  side  with 
the  one  that  is  in  its  own  favor.     Concert  of  action 


ON   CORPORAL   PUNISHMENT.  253 

is  necessary  on  the  part  of  parents  to  have  a  correct 
family  government. 

10.  Never  let  your  child  go  to  places   of  amuse- 
ment while  under  age,  unless  you  accompany  it,  or 
unless  it  is  in  the  care  of  some  trusty  friend.     Always 
introduce  your  child  to  strangers,  just  as  you  would 
a  friend  of  your  own  years.     You  should  go  frequent- 
ly with  your  children  to  proper  places  of  amusement. 

11.  Never  speak  of  your  neighbor  in  the  presence 
of  your  child  in  any  other  manner  than  you  would 
in  the  presence  of  others.     Never  entertain  visitors 
in  the  most   genial   manner   and   afterwards   speak 
slightly  of  them.     Do  not  invite  them  to  be  sure  and 
call  again,  saying  in  the  hearing  of  your  child,  after 
they  have  left :     "  Hope  they  never  will  call  again." 
Do  not  promise  to  return  their  visit,  but  afterwards 
say,  "  I  never  shall  call  on  them  ;  they  do  not  belong 
to  'our  set'"     What  can   your  child  think  of  your 
double  dealing?* 

*  To  TRAIN  A  CHILD. — A  little  tract  issued  for  distribution 
by  the  Ladies'  Sanitary  Association  of  London,  gives  these  wise 
suggestions  for  the  nurture  of  children  in  health  of  body  and 
spirit : 

1.  Never  refuse  a  thing  if  it  is  harmless ;  give  it,  if  you  are  able, 
without  delay. 

2.  Never  give  anything  because  it  is  cried  for  that  you  have  re- 
fused when  asked  for. 

3.  Be  careful  to  observe  real  illness,  and  avoid  causing  bodily 
uneasiness  from  over-clothing  or  cold  or  unwholesome  food,  such 
as  candy,  sugar-plums,  sour  fruit,  or  giving  buns  or  cakes  to  quiet 
the  child. 

4.  Avoid  false  promises.     They  are  sure  to  be  found  out  false. 

5.  Avoid  threats  of  all  kinds.     If  believed,  they  make  children 


254  CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT. 

Let  the  principles  set  forth  in  this  chapter  be  in- 
culcated,— heralded  broadcast  over  the  land, — and 
create  a  popular  sentiment  in  favor  of  the  opinion 
that  to  prevent  crime  we  must  "  strike  at  the  root  of 
the  evil" — begin  our  work  with  the  child  ;  and  if  we 
do  our  duty  here,  it  will  not  be  necessary  to  provide 
a  halter  for  the  adult. 

timid,  and  injure  both  mind  and  body  :  if  not  believed,  they  are 
useless.  Such  threats  as  bogie,  policeman,  and  black-man,  are 
sure  to  be  found  out  false,  if  the  child  lives. 

6.  Never  say  anything  untrue  to  a  child. 

7.  Do  not  wreak  your  own  bad  temper,  or  visit  your  own  feel- 
ings of  fatigue  and  trouble,  on  children,  by  being  severe  with 
them,  or  by  saying,  "  You  shan't  have,  it"  or  "  I  won't  give  it  to 
you,"  when  there  is  no  reason  for  refusal,  except  that  you  are 
yourself  tired,  or  in  trouble,  or  out  of  sorts. 

8.  Avoid  giving  orders,  such  as  "  Stand  still,"  "  Go  on,"  "  Hold 
your  tongue,"  "  Put  it  down,"  etc.,  unless  you  really  mean  that 
you  should  be  obeyed ;  and  the  fewer  orders  you  give,  the  better. 

9.  Neither  give  too  much  pity,  nor  yet  be  severe  and  unkind, 
when  a  child  tumbles  down  and  hurts  itself. 

10.  Do  not  worry  a  child.     Let  it  alone,  and  let  it  live  in 
peace. 

n.  Teach  it  early  to  play  alone,  and  amuse  itself  without  your 
help.  Let  it  alone,  is  a  golden  rule  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten. 

To  sum  up  all  in  a. few  words,  try  to  feel  like  a  child ;  to  enter 
into  its  griefs  and  joys,  its  trials  and  triumphs.  Then  look  forward 
to  the  time  when  it  shall  have  numbered  as  many  years  as  you 
have  seen,  and  pray  for  help  and  strength  to  do  your  duty  by  it. 
You  may  fail,  as  we  all  may  ;  but  if  you  sow  the  seed  with  humil- 
ity and  faith,  you  will  have  done  all  that  is  permitted  to  us  im- 
perfect creatures ;  and  if  you  have  reared  up  a  cheerful,  loving, 
truthful,  and  brave  spirit,  in  a  healthy  body,  you  have  been  work- 
ing with  him  who  told  us  it  was  "  not  the  will  of  our  Father  in 
Heaven  that  one  of  these  little  ones  should  perish." 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

ON    WEALTH,    HEALTH,   CRIME,   AND    THE    LABORING 

CLASSES. ORGANIZED    CAPITAL    AND    THE 

EFFECT    IT    HAS    ON    SOCIETY. 

"  The  tendency  of  wealth  to  accumulate  in  few  hands,  and  the  creation  of 
giant  power,  and  not  disinclined  to  use  it  like  giants,  threatens  to  put  the  laws 
of  state  at  the  disposal  of  the  highest  bidder." — Theo.  Tilton. 

Subsistence  and  preservation  of  the  vital  integrity 
of  the  body  is  a  law  of  nature.  To  insure  such  a 
state  of  enjoyment  individuals  have  a  right  to  make 
use  of  means  which  will  provide  for  their  physical 
wants.  No  law  or  condition  of  society  should  ever 
be  allowed  to  infringe  on  one's  rights  to  maintain  an 
honorable  subsistence.  As  subsistence  is  a  law  of 
the  physical  nature,  so  is  education  and  the  proper 
development  of  the  mental  faculties  a  law  of  the 
mind,  and  each  individual  has,  therefore,  a  just  claim 
on  society  to  be  permitted  to  acquire  a  mental  sub- 
sistence as  well  as  to  maintain  the  body. 

To  accumulate  wealth,  position,  and  place,  a  giant 
power  in  the  hands  of  a  few,  which  is  the  tendency 
and  the  ultimate  object  of  society,  is  not  a  law  of 
nature.  It  is  a  perverted  condition  of  the  law  of 
self-preservation,  and  its  effect  necessarily  is  to  de- 
prive a  large  portion  of  the  people  of  an  easy  means 
of  maintaining  a  subsistence.  In  consequence  of 
this  unadjustable  condition  of  society  with  the  laws 
of  nature,  some  men  resort  to  every  means  to  ac- 

255 


256  CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT. 

quire  wealth,  while,  on  the  other  hand,  others  are 
striving  to  preserve  natural  rights,  honorably,  if  it 
can  be  done  so  ;  but  money,  men  will  have,  though  it 
may  deprive  some  of  the  necessary  means  of  subsis- 
tence. A  man  has  a  right  to  acquire  a  competency  ; 
but  no  one  has  a  moral  right  by  accumulating  wealth 
to  create  a  power  that  incites  men  to  crime.  Again, 
the  education  of  man's  capabilities,  the  moral,  the 
intellectual,  and  the  social  natures,  is  a  claim  or  lien 
which  every  child  has  on  society  by  a  law  of  nature 
which  stands  parallel  with  the  first  law  of  subsistence. 
Every  individual  child  born  into  life  should  be  sus- 
tained, and  it  is,  at  least,  a  duty,  not  to  prevent  it 
from  acquiring  a  reasonable  amount  of  education, 
which  is  a  mental  competency,  and  may  be  compared 
to  that  which  provides  for  physical  existence.  In 
proportion,  then,  as  one  portion  of  society  accumu- 
lates wealth  by  depriving  the  other  of  a  needful  com- 
petency, there  will  exist  a  lack  of  the  proper  intellec- 
tual development,  thereby  unbalancing  the  mental 
condition  of  society, — one  portion  rushing  headlong 
after  the  things  which  will  maintain  position  and 
wealth,  and  the  other  portion  laboring  under  the 
weight  of  a  benighted  condition  of  the  mind,  and 
forced  on  by  necessity  of  subsistence  to  often  appro- 
priate property  that  belongs  to  others. 

For  the  purpose  of  increasing  wealth,  and  holding 
a  controlling  power,  men  of  capital  have  variously 
organized  themselves.  The  condition  of  men  unor- 
ganized is  one  comparatively  void  of  power. 

We  will  now  consider  the  relative  advantages 
which  men  have  in  acquiring  moral  and  intellectual 


ON    WEALTH,    HEALTH,    CRIME,    ETC.  257 

education  and  in  the  accumulation  of  wealth.  It  is 
a  truth  that  to  accumulate  mental  wealth,  about  as 
much  labor  and  economy  is  necessary  as  to  obtain 
houses,  lands,  and  gold.  The  child  learns  early  to 
supply  its  own  body  with  the  necessary  food  for  sub- 
sistence, and  gradually  through  life  it  continues  to 
learn  more  and  more, — how  to  make  money,  how  to 
economize,  and  how  to  use  all  possible  resources  in 
making  labor  as  profitable  as  possible.  The  same 
economy  and  ingenuity  which  is  required  to  attain  to 
an  easy  financial  position  is  also  necessary  to  be 
brought  into  requisition  in  acquiring  a  mind  well 
stored  with  knowledge.  In  this  last  the  common 
every-day  laborer  has  but  few  advantages.  During 
childhood  and  youth  the  laboring  classes  enjoy  but 
few  advantages  for  attending  to  an  early  mental  cul- 
ture compared  with  those  who  have  sufficient  finan- 
cial income  to  support  them  during  the  most  impor- 
tant period  of  life.  The  same  cause  that  makes  finan- 
cial paupers  make  also  paupers  intellectual.  The 
capital  which  controls  labor  also  controls  the  educa- 
tion of  the  laboring  classes.  In  this,  capital  is  so  far 
in  advance  that  it  is  almost  too  late  to  remedy  the 
difficulty.  This  unbalanced  condition  between  labor 
and  capital  is  productive  of  crime  and  much  sorrow 


among  men. 


The  faculty  which  governs  capital  is  ever  at  work 
in  devising  means  to  maintain  a  supremacy.  The 
love  of  money  has  already  attained  an  alarming  in- 
fluence, and  to  counteract  it  is  a  matter  of  much  study. 
Men  are  taught,  in  childhood,  a  few  moral  and  intel- 
lectual lessons,  which  at  manhood  are  almost  entirely 

17 


258  CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT. 

abandoned ;  the  study  is  more  how  to  make  money. 
Instead  of  instituting  a  daily  reading  and  studying  of 
the  sciences  and  endeavoring  to  master  the  true  phil- 
osophy of  human  life,  their  leisure  hours  are  mainly 
spent  in  reading  the  daily  news,  novels,  and  the  most 
flimsical  literature.  Capital  and  men  labor  six  days 
each  week  in  the  pursuit  of  earthly  things;  the 
churches, -and  other  institutions,  which  have  man's 
moral  and  religious  welfare  for  their  object,  labor  only 
two  hours  each  week,  giving  capital  and  the  business 
of  every  day  life  an  advantage  of  six  days,  of  ten  to 
fifteen  hours  in  each  day,  while  the  moral,  intellectual, 
religious,  and  social  nature  of  man  receives  only  at- 
tention two  hours  in  the  week.  Thus  an  unbalanced 
condition  is  gradually  acquired  by  the  individual. 
Society,  of  course,  will  be  the  same,  for  society  is 
made  up  of  individuals.  Money  is  invested  in  public 
schools,  whose  labors,  however,  extend  only  to  a  short 
period  ;  for,  as  we  have  already  stated,  all  this  work, 
as  a  rule,  stops  at  adult  age.  The  churches  aim  to 
counteract  the  tendency  of  wealth  and  labor  to  accu- 
mulate in  the  hands  of  a  few,  or  even  to  carry  away 
mankind  in  the  direction  of  immoral  or  irreligious 
channels ;  but  as  capital  labors  six  days  each  week, 
and  ten  and  fifteen  hours  each  day,  and  the  churches 
labor  only  about  two  hours  in  each  week,  the  church 
stands  a  very  poor  chance  to  gain  much  on  capital. 
The  capital  employed  in  the  direction  of  wealth,  and 
in  conducting  the  business  of  physical  life,  produces 
about  thirty  per  cent,  per  annum,  while  the  capital 
employed  in  conducting  the  business  of  man's  devel- 
oping and  accumulating  of  that  true  wealth  of  the 


ON    HEALTH,    WEALTH,   CRIME,    ETC.  259 

soul  which  only  can  eventually  make  men  happy, 
produces  comparatively  no  per  cent,  per  annum. 
Take  for  example,  the  ten  millions  of  property  in- 
vested in  churches  in  this  city,  and  this  amount  of 
capital  lies  dormant  for  six  days  each  week,  and  only 
really  labors  about  two  hours  on  the  seventh.  This 
ten  millions  of  capital,  invested  in  the  business  con- 
ducted by  fashionable  society,  will  increase  during  the 
same  period  of  time  from  twenty  to  thirty  per  cent. 
Or,  let  us  consider  the  ten  millions  invested  in  man- 
ufacturing business,  and  it  will  sway  a  power  which 
it  has  been  entirely  incompetent  hitherto  to  counter- 
act, or  to  bring  even  a  restraining  influence  to  bear 
upon.  The  ten  millions  invested  in  manufacturing 
purposes,  work  men  ten  to  twelve  hours  each  day, — 
four  hours  longer  than  even  the  law  of  physiology 
would  grant,  to  say  nothing  of  the  moral  wrong, — 
and  by  this  means  an  unbalanced  condition  is  gradu- 
ally acquired  between  the  physical  and  mental  ;  and 
the  ten  millions  employed  by  the  church  cannot  com- 
pete in  two  hours  with  the  efforts  put  forth  in  the 
sixty  or  seventy  hours  employed  by  the  manufactur- 
ing interest  each  week.  Here  is  an  unbalanced  con- 
dition of  society — an  antagonism  between  wealth, 
labor,  and  the  intellectual  work  of  man.  In  conse- 
quence of  this  unequal  condition  of  society,  corporal 
means  are  resorted  to,  to  restrain  the  eating  canker 
upon  the  body  of  society.  Can  it  be  longer  a  ques- 
tion whether  society  makes  her  own  criminals?  and 
is  it  not  self-evident  that  by  corporal  punishment  the 
difficulty  can  never  be  removed  ?  In  consequence  of 
this  disproportionate  condition  of  society,  crime  is 


26O  CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT. 

prevalent,  even  in  the  higher  as  well  as  in  the  lower 
walks  of  life. 

"  Corruption  in  high  places,  or  rather  its  exposure, 
is  at  present  occupying  a  very  large  share  of  the  at- 
tention of  the  public.  We  have  had  Tammany  frauds, 
Credit  Mobilier  bribery,  the  corrupt  election  of  sena- 
tors, fraudulent  contracts,  defalcations  of  public 
officers,  and  almost  every  other  variety  of  crime, 
dished  up  for  our  daily  meal  for  months  past.  And 
still  new  exposures  are  being  made,  and  new  dishes 
are  being  set  before  us.  The  last  is  the  discovery  of 
forgeries  by  a  prominent  Pittsburgh  business  man 
amounting  to  seventy-five  thousand  dollars." 

The  strife  between  capital  and  labor  is  now  being 
more  and  more  agitated.  In  New  York  city  the  em- 
ployers and  workingmen  are  now  beginning  to  dis- 
cuss the  proposed  movement  in  various  trades  with 
reference  to  wages  and  hours  of  labor.  Conflicting 
opinions  prevail  on  both  sides.  The  employers  seem 
to  be  unanimous  in  their  opposition  to  a  reduction  of 
hours,  while  the  workmen  are  not  united,  and  many 
regard  favorably  the  ten-hour  system. 

Why  this  agitation  and  this  great  amount  of  fric- 
tion ?     If  all  was  rightly  adjusted, — in  harmony  with 
the  laws  of  nature  (see  Part  III  of  this  volume), — 
all  would  be  more  happy,  crime  would  be  less  fre- 
quent, and  men  would  seek  after  the  things  of  the 
spirit,  and  employ  the  ten  millions  now  invested  in 
church  purposes,  in  exercising  the  talents  of  the  soul 
at  least  one  hour  and  a  half  each  evening,  makin! 
about  fifteen  hours  each  week  in  place  of  two,  thu< 
bringing  a  reasonable  amount   of  counteracting  in- 


ON    WEALTH,    HEALTH,    CRIME,    ETC.  26 1 

fluence  to  bear  on  the  ten  millions  employed  in  an 
opposite  direction.  We  have  aimed  to  be  lenient 
when  we  compare  ten  millions  'of  church  property  to 
ten  millions  of  money  invested  in  the  opposite  direc- 
tion ;  but  really  the  difference  is  by  the  thousands  of 
millions,  and  hence  we  need  not  wonder  that  five 
hundred  police  are  required  in  Chicago  to  keep  men 
from  tearing  each  other  to  pieces  like  wild  beasts. 
Aside  from  the  millions  of  organized  capital  em- 
ployed mainly  in  what  is  called  a  legitimate  business, 
millions  more  are  invested  in  drinking  saloons  which 
are  run  about  twenty  hours  each  day,  Sundays  not 
excepted.  Of  these  there  are  about  twenty-five,  on 
the  average,  throughout  the  state,  to  every  church, 
and  they  manufacture  at  least  five  devils  to  one 
Christian  made  by  the  church.  In  the  face  of  these 
facts,  ministers  of  the  gospel  will  rise  in  their  pulpits 
and  argue  from  the  light  of  "  divine  revelation"  that 
hanging  our  murderers  is  preventive  of  crime. 

How  shall  we  "correct  all  this  wonderful  discord 
which  pervades  society?  In  addition  to  what  has 
been  said  under  the  head  of  compulsory  education, 
and  of  corporal  punishment,  we  now  call  attention  to 
one  very  important  and  too  much  neglected  fact, 
which  is, 

THE  LABORING  CLASS 

must  be  held  in  greater  respect :  they  must  be  brought 
up  into  good  society,  and  be  permitted  to  associate 
with  those  of  learning  and  of  wealth.  In  other 
words,  the  line  that  now  divides  the  laboring  classes 


202  CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT. 

from   the   professional    and  the  wealthy  should  be 
broken  down. 

It  is  a  grand  truth  that  labor  is  honorable,  and 
without  it  we  -cannot  exist.  Think  for  a  moment  of 
the  dignity  and  importance  of  labor ;  of  the  innu- 
merable comforts  the  laboring  classes  are  procuring 
for  humanity ;  of  the  beauties  they  are  elaborating 
all  around  us ;  of  the  mines  of  wealth  they  are 
developing  in  every  direction. 

"  Let  not  ambition  mock  their  useful  toil, 
Their  homely  joys,  and  destiny  obscure  ; 
Nor  grandeur  hear  with  a  disdainful  smile 
The  short  and  simple  annals  of  the  poor." 

No,  let  us  not  "mock  their  useful  toil,"  nor  think 
less  of  "  their  homely  joys,"  but  give  a  helping  hand 
to  our  common  laboring  classes,  that  all  may  together 
rise  and  progress  in  the  pursuit  of  human  happiness. 

Have  you  ever  contemplated  the  wonders  which  a 
faithful  laborer's  lifetime  may  accomplish,  and  yet 
not  learned  to  respect  the  laboring  man  ?  I  love  to 
grasp  the  hand  of  a  man  that  has  felled  a  forest !  It 
may  be  hard,  it  may  be  rough,  but  it  is  a  brave  hand 
and  I  love  it!  And  when  I  think  how  that  vigorous 
arm  hath  cleft  in  twain  the  proud  hickory,  how  the 
lofty  oak  hath  yielded  to  its  ponderous  blows, — I  will 
persist  in  believing  that  the  honest  yeoman  has  ac- 
complished a  great,  a  noble  work,  the  disparagements 
of  the  head-measurers  notwithstanding.  Yes,  he  who 
has  redeemed  a  single  acre  from  the  fertile  waste  of 
nature,  and  subjected  it  to  the  work  of  feeding  the 
millions,  or  has  planted  a  tree  from  which  posterity 


ON    WEALTH,    HEALTH,   CRIME,    ETC.  263 

may  pluck,  has  performed  a  noble  act.  I  tell  you  it 
is  for  such  as  these  that  "  the  wilderness  and  the  sol- 
itary places  shall  be  glad,  and  the  desert  shall  rejoice 
and  blossom  as  the  rose." 

There  are  the  "  hod-carriers."  Do  you  smile  at 
the  mention  of  the  word  ?  Stand  a  little  while  near 
a  large  building  in  process  of  erection  and  watch  the 
movements  of  those  busy  men.  Here  they  come, 
with  hurried  step,  one  after  another,  to  the  brick 
pile.  For  the  hundredth  time  to-day  they  fill  their 
hods  and  retrace  their  steps.  Slowly,  cautiously, 
they  ascend  the  dizzy  ladders.  Their  burdens 
dumped,  they  turn  again  to  repeat  that  oft-repeated 
journey.  But  mark  you!  Those  buttresses  are 
growing.  Upward,  upward,  toward  the  bright,  blue 
heavens  rise  those  massive  walls!  The  roof  is 
arched,  the  dome  is  finished,  and  now,  as  that  noble 
edifice  looms  up  against  the  sky,  and  you  contem- 
plate its  stern  solidity,  its  massive  grandeur,  its  archi- 
tectural beauty,  does  not  a  thrill  of  exultant  joy 
vibrate  within  your  inmost  soul  as  you  remind  your- 
self that  three  or  four  brave  fellows  have  absolutely 
shouldered  that  magnificent  structure? 

Away  with  that  abominable  dogma  that  the 
highly  gifted  only  may  accomplish  great  results.  God 
can  use  the  humblest  vessel  he  has  made. 

Hands,  heads  and  hearts  should  all  be  set  to  work 
to  bless  the  world,  and  for  the  individual  (I  care  not 
what  may  be  the  circumference  of  his  skull !)  who  is 
willing  to  devote  his  triple  self  to  the  guidance  of 
his  Maker,  I  would  not  hesitate  to  predict  an  ample 
success  in  time,  and  a  glorious  career  in  eternity — 


264  CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT. 

though  all  the  craniologists  in  the  world  should 
shake  their  incredulous  heads  at  once.  It  is  not 
yours  nor  mine  to  say  that  such  an  individual  might 
not,  out  of  the  abundance  of  his  labors,  actually 
double  the  hallelujahs  of  Heaven. 

Think  of  the  rebuilding  of  Chicago.  Were  it  not 
for  the  laboring  classes,  the  burnt  district  would  yet 
be  a  barren  waste.  But  as  it  is,  hundreds  of  stately 
and  noble  edifices  loom  up  against  the  sky,  where 
one  year  ago  was  but  solitary  ruins. 

Unless  society  makes  proper  provision  for  the 
working  classes,  by  the  universal  education  of  all 
the  mental  faculties  of  every  individual  member  of 
society,  an  unbalanced  condition  will  continue  be- 
tween capital  and  labor, — between  wealth  and  the 
moral  and  religious  nature  of  man, — between  the 
educated  and  the  uncultivated  faculties  of  the  mind. 

Society  may  be  compared  to  an  organization  com- 
posed of  a  number  of  faculties  the  same  as  an  indi- 
vidual. Now,  where  the  faculty  of  acquisitiveness  is 
the  predominant  power,  the  individual  will  measure 
everything  by  what  money  is  worth.  The  chief 
end  will  be  money.  This  faculty  is  even  now  the 
ruling  force  of  society,  supported  by  selfishness,  re- 
venge, and  hatred,  brought  into  activity  by  the  facul- 
ties of  combativeness  and  destructiveness.  These 
are  the  forces  which  labor  six  days  each  week,  and, 
in  many  cases,  include  the  Sabbath  day,  while  the 
faculties  of  reason,  conscience,  benevolence,  friendship, 
love,  and  charity,  are  exercised  only  about  two  hours 
in  the  week.  The  majority  of  mankind  "  seek  after 
the  things  that  are  temporal,"  rather  than  "  after  the 
things  of  the  spiritual. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

OUR    PRESENT   JURY  SYSTEM. PROPOSED   REFORMATION. 

MURDER   TRIALS. WOMEN    AS   JURORS 

CONCLUSION    OF    PART   II. 

We  would  not  consider  our  task  complete  in  what 
has  been  said  on  crime  and  punishment,  if  we  were 
not  to  give  a  passing  notice  to  the  present  jury  sys- 
tem. In  the  first  place,  we  remark  that  we  believe 
the  Grand  Jury  to  be  a  useless  body  of  officials 
which  should  be  discontinued.  We  give  the  follow- 


ing reasons : 


First.  It  is  a  secret  trial  of  a  person  supposed  to 
be  guilty  of  a  crime,  where  the  criminal  is  not  per- 
mitted to  be  present,  and  has,  therefore,  no  opportu- 
nity to  defend  himself. 

Second.  The  Grand  Jury,  after  deliberation,  ren- 
ders a  verdict  which  is  no  more  descisive  than  if 
twelve  men,  not  empowered  by  any  legal  authority, 
were  to  meet  in  secret  and  pass  resolutions  that  a 
certain  person  in  the  neighborhood  is  guilty  of  some 
crime  or  misdemeanor,  and  would  recommend  an 
arrest,  and  that  they  be  committed  for  trial.  How 
many  persons  have  been  found  not  guilty  by  the 
court,  even  after  the  Grand  Jury  passes  a  verdict  of 
guilty,  and  many  have  been  set  aside  by  the  courts. 

Third.  Any  one  may  go  before  the  Grand  Jury 
and  give  in  testimony  against  their  neighbors,  and 

265 


266  CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT. 

no  one  is  allowed  to  know  who  the  complainant  is, 
making  it  altogether  a  one-sided  trial,  giving  credence 
only  to  the  story  of  one  side  of  the  question.  Here 
much  injustice  is  done;  and  if  there  were  none,  it  is 
entirely  useless,  as  the  decision  is  not  final ;  a  useless 
expense,  a  sham  trial,  and  may  be  dispensed  with 
without  in  the  least  impairing  our  resources  to  deal 
out  justice.  The  justice  of  the  peace,  or  any  judge, 
may  give  an  opinion  and  cause  one  to  be  committed 
to  farther  trial,  after  hearing  the  preliminary  testi- 
mony. What  use  is  there,  after  a  coroners'  jury  has 
found  a  verdict,  that  the  Grand  Jury  should  again 
consider  the  case,  and  proceed  to  trial  of  the 
criminal. 

Trial  by  jury  we  believe  to  be  just  and  a  verdict 
by  a  two-third  vote  is  all  that  is  necessary  to  arrive 
at  a  just  decision.  Instead,  however,  of  decreasing 
the  number,  as  the  Attorney  General  of  England  pro- 
poses, as  a  radical  means  of  reforming  the  jury  sys- 
tem, which  is  not  looked  upon  with  much  favor,  how- 
ever, we  are  in  favor  of  increasing  the  number  to 
twenty-four  in  all  trials  for  murder  and  treason.  To 
show  that  the  subject  of  reforming  our  present 

JURY  SYSTEM 

is  already  being  agitated  in  this  and  the  old  country, 
we  copy  from  the  press  opinions  which  explain  them- 
selves : 

'"The  evils  of  the  jury  system,  as  developed  by 
modern  experience,  are  of  a  nature  too  serious  to  be 
ignored.  The  subject  has  been  agitated  to  consider- 


OUR    PRESENT   JURY    SYSTEM.  267 

able  extent  in  this  country  for  some  time ;  and  the 
English  journals  have  shown  the  same  state  of  things 
in  Great  Britain.  At  last  the  attorney  general  of 
that  nation  has  proposed  a  very  radical  measure, 
which  is  not  looked  upon  with  favor,  and  will  hardly 
succeed  in  becoming  a  law. 

o 

"  The  principal  features  of  this  proposition  are  a 
reduction  of  the  number  of  the  jury  from  twelve  to 
seven,  except  in  trials  for  treason  and  murder,  and 
the  principle  that  a  majority  shall  be  allowed  to  vote 
a  verdict.  The  first  change  is  recommended  in  order 
to  decrease  the  number  of  persons  withheld  from 
their  occupations  to  attend  court  where  they  await 
summons  as  jurors.  The  attorney  general  argues 
that  there  is  no  magic  in  the  number  twelve,  and  that 
the  number  might  just  as  well  be  seven.  In  reply  to 
this,  it  is  answered  that  there  is  no  more  magic  in  the 
number  seven ;  that  the  evil  complained  of  can  be 
remedied  in  some  other  manner,  and  that  it  would 
be  dangerous  to  change  the  number  constituting  a 
jury  when  the  people  have  learned  to  regard  that 
number  as  necessary  to  their  protection. 

"  The  principle  that  a  majority  shall  be  allowed  to 
vote  a  verdict,  is  assailed  still  more  strenuously.  The 
proposition  is  similar  to  one  recently  introduced  in 
the  Illinois  Legislature,  except  that  in  the  latter  case 
a  vote  of  two-thirds  is  required  for  a  verdict. 

"  It  is  hardly  probable  that  either  of  these  propo- 
sitions would  work  an  improvement  on  the  present 
system,  and  we  think  the  views  of  the  public,  are  ex- 
pressed in  the  following  terse  extract  from  an  article 
on  the  subject  in  a  morning  paper  in  this  city,  which 


268  CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT. 

says:  'Both  plans  seem  to  be  inconsiderate  and 
dangerous.  In  the  organization  of  juries,  two-thirds 
of  the  members  are  as  apt  to  be  stupid  blockheads 
as  one-third,  and  the  proposed  change  would  give 
them  the  opportunity  of  determining  a  verdict  when- 
ever such  a  division  should  occur.  It  would  simply 
bean  application  of  the  majority  rule  to  jury  ver- 
dicts, as  it  exists  now  in  politics.  The  principle  is 
carried  far  enough  already,  and  it  would  be  especially 
dangerous  and  objectionable  to  apply  it  to  absolute 
judicial  verdicts  affecting  life,  liberty,  and  property. 
The  principle  of  unanimity  has  the  constant  advan- 
tage of  securing  deliberation  and  consultation  more 
apt  to  result  in  a  just  verdict  than  a  hasty,  inconsid- 
erate vote  of  the  majority/  " 

We  cannot  see  a  good  reason  why  a  two-thirds  vote 
is  not  as  near  true  justice  as  when  one-third  stand 
against  the  rest  and  are  finally  persuaded  to  "  give 
in"  and  return  a  verdict  by  a  unanimous  vote.  As 
before  stated,  we  are  in  favor  of  increasing  the  num- 
ber of  jurors  to  twenty-four  in  all  murder  trials  and 
for  treason.  Twelve  men  and  twelve  women.  After 
the  trial  and  the  usual  charge  given  by  the  judge,  the 
jury  should  then  retire  to  a  suitable  room  where  each 
is  provided  with  a  seat  so  isolated  from  each  other 
that  no  private  conversation  can  be  had :  in  no  case 
should  it  be  allowed.  We  do  not  believe  that  dis- 
cussions are  proper  by  a  jury.  The  case  has  been 
sufficiently  discussed  during  the  trial,  and  each  mem- 
ber of  the  jury  should  be  allowed  an  individual  vote, 
and  not  be  influenced  by  the  knowledge  of  how 
others  vote.  The  sheriff,  or  the  clerk  of  the  court, 


OUR    PRESENT  JURY    SYSTEM.  269 

should  act  as  chairman  of  the  jury.  At  the  sound  of 
the  gavel,  each  juror  should  be  required  to  step  to  a 
private  desk,  and  write  his  of  her  verdict  on  a  suita- 
ble card,  and  deposit  it  in  a  box.  A  two-third  vote 
to  be  decisive ;  if,  however,  a  two-third  vote  is  not 
the  result  of  the  first  ballot,  then  a  second  ballot  may 
be  ordered  by  the  chairman  ;  should  there  be  no  de- 
cision, he  may  call  for  a  third,  but  this  should  be  the 
limit,  and,  however  the  ballot  may  then  stand,  a  ver- 
dict of  guilty  or  not  guilty  is  rendered,  after  which, 
the  jury  should  be  discharged.  We  oppose  all  dis- 
cussions by  juries,  in  the  jury-room,  for  the  following 
reasons  :  First,  the  best  talker  can  carry  those  who 
are  easily  persuaded.  Secondly,  many  persons,  though 
having  clear  minds,  are  not  competent  to  bring  re- 
butting arguments,  having  had  no  practice  in  speak- 
ing or  debating,  and  yet  would  render  a  just  verdict. 
We  hold  it  to  be  just  and  necessary  to  require,  by 
law,  certain 

QUALIFICATIONS 

of  jurors  before  they  are  considered  as  fit  to  sit  on  a 
jury.  First,  we  mention  age.  No  male  should  be 
allowed  to  sit  on  a  jury  under  thirty  or  over  fifty ; 
no  female  under  twenty-five  or  over  fifty.  Between 
these  two  periods  of  human  life,  the  judgment  and 
mental  capacities  are  at  the  highest  degree  of  vigor, 
and  are  available  more  than  at  any  other  time,  and 
hence  the  most  just  decisions  may  be  arrived  at  if 
this  precaution  is  taken  in  the  selection  of  jurors. 
The  second  qualification  should  be  that  each  juror  be 
in  possession  of  knowledge  of  our  common  branches 


27O  CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT. 

of  education,  at  least.  The  third  qualification  is, 
that  each  juror  should  be  a  freeholder,  and  in  pur- 
suit of  some  honorable  vocation,  by  which  to  main- 
tain a  subsistence.  Some  may  object  to  our  idea  of 
permitting  women  to  set  on  juries. 

We  ask,  has  she  no  power  to  judge  of  human 
affairs?  Can  she  not  understand  right  from  wrong, 
and  is  not  woman  more  moral  than  man,  as  a  rule? 
And  if  she  is  to  be  governed  by  law,  why  shall  she 
not  have  a  right  to  say  how  she  shall  be  ruled  ?  And 
again,  has  she  not  as  much  interest  in  the  welfare  of 
the  opposite  sex  as  men  have  in  hers,  and  is  it  not  a 
moral  duty  that  she  should  interest  herself  in  matters 
of  law  as  well  as  in  domestic  affairs  ?  Let  women  be 
permitted  to  take  their  place  in  the  jury-box,  and  we 
affirm  that  our  courts  of  justice  will  not  be  conducted 
as  too  disreputable  a  place  for  a  respectable  lady 
even  to  appear  in  as  a  witness.  In  all  trials  for 
crimes  less  than  murder  or  treason,  twelve  jurors  are 
sufficient, — six  men  and  six  women, — but  a  two-thirds 
vote  should  be  requisite  for  a  verdict,  and  the  same 
rule  should  be  observed  as  before  mentioned. 

In  trial  of  disputes  in  regard  to  property  or  money, 
the  present  system  is  as  good  as  need  be.  Minor 
cases  of  crime,  such  as  justices  of  the  peace  are  now 
allowed  to  decide,  may  be  continued.  For  example, 
a  person  is  arraigned  for  vagrancy.  It  is  not  neces- 
sary to  decide  by  jury ;  but  if  the  evidence  is  suffi- 
ciently conclusive,  the  justice  of  the  peace  may  at 
once  decide  the  case,  and  send  him  to  the  reforma- 
tory institution,  where  such  persons  are  further 
disposed  of  by  a  competent  board  of  educators. 


OUR    PRESENT   JURY    SYSTEM.  271 

We  do  not  believe  in  the  right  of  appeal  from  one 
court  to  another ;  after  a  trial  has  been  had  according 
to  law,  it  should  be  decisive.  As  it  is  now,  so  long  as 
parties  have  a  dollar  to  spend,  they  continue  to  law 
one  another  until  justice  is  defeated.  This  creates 
a  spirit  of  revenge.  Men  declare  that  they  will  have 
satisfaction  if  they  have  to  spend  their  last  dollar. 
This  is  a  great  evil,  though  it  may  be  remunerative  to 
officers  of  the  law  and  lawyers.  The  question  is, 
has  ever  an  appeal  been  made  with  a  view  only  to 
gain  justice,  or  was  it  mainly  through  a  spirit  of 
revenge  and  an  object  to  dishonorably  win  the  suit 
on  some  technical  point  in  law  ?  Remove,  then,  the 
right  of  an  appeal  after  the  case  has  been  regularly 
tried,  according  to  law,  and  then  the  poor  will  have 
justice  done,  as  well  as  moneyed  monopolies,  or  those 
that  have  money  enough  to  carry  on  a  law  suit  until 
their  opponent  has  exhausted  all  his  resources. 

Take  away  the  right  of  appeal,  and  the  pardoning 
power  from  the  executive,  make  justice  the  impera- 
tive power  in  the  land,  and  people  will  shun  the  law 
as  they  would  a  prison,  attending  to  their  legitimate 
business  rather  than  trying  to  defeat  the  ends  of 
justice. 

We  believe  that  no  court  has  a  moral  right  to 
require  men  to  take  upon  themselves  a  solemn  oath. 
Affirmation  by  one's  own  word  of  honor,  as  they 
hope  to  answer  to  men  and  this  court, — not  to  God,— 
is  stronger  than  the  oath  now  administered.  Most 
people  who  swear  falsely  fear  hell  less  than  they  do 
men, as  the  majority  believe  there  is  time  enough  for 
God  to  forgive  their  sins;  and  they  will  risk  the  in- 


272  CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT. 

definite  hereafter  rather  than  incur  the  nearer  punish- 
ment of  the  law  established  by  man.  A  person  who 
will  respect  his  own  honor  less  than  an  oath,  is  not  a 
proper  subject  to  sit  on  a  jury  or  to  testify  as  a 
witness. 

In  conclusion  of  this  chapter  and  Part  Second  of 
this  volume,  we  take  occasion  to  review  briefly  the 
leading  ideas  advanced  in  support  of  the  total  aboli- 
tion of  the  death  penalty.  History  shows  that  the 
severity  of  the  death  penalty  inflicted  upon  criminals 
is  growing  less,  and  it  is  now  only  used  as  a  punish- 
ment for  murder  and  treason,  while  in  former  ages  it 
was  administered  for  many  crimes  of  lesser  magni- 
tude. Formerly  executions  were  held  in  public  :  now 
only  murderers  in  the  first  degree  are  executed,  and 
this  is  done  in  private.  This  favors  the  idea  that  it 
will  soon  be  abolished.  History  further  shows  that 
the  death  penalty  has  never  prevented  crime,  and 
that  it  had  its  origin  among  heathen  nations  and  is 
not  a  command  of  God  *  nor  was  it  ever  suggested 

*  THE  PUNISHMENT  OF  MURDER. — To  the  Editor  of  the  Chicago 
Tribune: — SIR:  Why  is  it  that  our  clergy,  as  a  general  thing, 
are  so  clamorous  for  the  bloody  code  ?  These  heralds  of  the 
gentle  Jesus — that  Jesus  who  never  uttered  a  syllable  approving 
the  taking  of  human  life  as  a  punishment — one  would  expect  to 
be  the  last  to  call  for  the  old  Mosaic  ukase  of  "  A  life  for  a  life." 

As  an  instance  how  the  most  adverse  texts  of  Scripture  are 
used  by  clergymen  to  enforce  their  notions,  the  sermon  of  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Helmer  on  Sunday  evening  was  remarkable.  His  theme 
was  Cain,  the  first  murderer ;  and,  in  some  way,  from  that  he  drew 
an  instruction  in  favor  of  capital  punishment. 

Now,  Cain  was  not  put  to  death  by  God,  but  separated  from  his 
fellows ;  and,  to  prevent  his  fellowmen  from  killing  him,  God  put 


OUR    PRESENT   JURY    SYSTEM.  273 

by  a  righteous  person  or  an  enlightened  nation.  It 
is  therefore  a  relic  of  barbarism  adhering  to  our 
civilized  institutions,  which  long  since  should  have 
taken  its  place  in  oblivion. 

We  have  also  maintained  the  great  necessity  and 
right  to  punish  crime,  and  contended  successfully  for 
the  strict  enforcement  of  the  three  primary  objects  of 
law  and  punishment,  namely :  first,  reformation  of 
the  criminal ;  secondly,  reparation  or  compensation 
to  the  injured  party,  and  thirdly,  prevention  of  future 
crime.  We  have  shown  that  the  first  object  can  only 
be  obtained  by  sending  the  criminal  to  a  reformatory 
prison, — murderers  to  prison  for  life,  withholding  the 

a  mark  on  him,  and  threatened  seven-fold  vengeance  upon  any 
one  who  should  kill  him. 

Not  much  capital  punishment  doctrine  here. 

That  so  candid  and  able  a  man  as  Mr.  Helmer  could  fall  into 
such  a  line  of  deduction,  seems  singular. 

I,  for  one,  have  long  been  opposed  to  the  death  penalty.  The 
arguments  of  its  advocates  seem  to  me  fallacious,  and  the  secret 
of  the  desire  for  its  infliction  to  be  in  the  natural  feeling  of  ven- 
geance in  case  of  murder. 

That  the  restraining  effect  of  executions  on  crime  is  a  vagery, 
is  proved  by  the  fact  that,  in  each  of  the  recent  executions  in  this 
city  and  in  New  York,  murders  were  committed  within  a  single 
day  thereafter,  within  cannon-shot  of  the  scaffold. 

The  Tribune  of  this  morning,  to  my  mind,  struck  the  right 
note,  and  for  the  first  time,  to  my  notice,  has  the  thought  been 
clearly  put  forth,  "  that  at  present,  and  until  we  abolish  the  par- 
doning power,  there  is  no  such  thing  as  imprisonment  for  life." 

We  must  have  the  death  penalty  for  murder  till  we  can  imprison 
for  life.  Let  us  take  away  the  pardoning  power  from  the  execu- 
tive in  case  of  murder ;  and,  until  we  can  do  that,  let  murderers 
hang,  say  I.  CHIVEX. 

CHICAGO,  March  24,  1873. 

IS 


274  CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT. 

pardoning  power  from  the  executive,  as  also  the  right 
to  appeal  to  higher  courts  or  for  a  new  trial  on  the 
part  of  the  accused. 

These  principles  can  never  be  attained  by  enforc- 
ing the  death  penalty.  After  death,  no  reparation 
can  be  made  by  the  criminal;  nor  can  we  call  back 
the  innocent  and  restore  life  again.  Neither  science, 
nature,  or  divine  revelation  teach  that  it  is  a  Chris- 
tian duty  to  hang  murderers  ;  but,  on  the  other 
hand,  they  teach  us  plainly  that  as  long  as  God  and 
nature  lets  the  criminal  live  we  should  certainly  be 
willing  to  do  so,  and — as  God  did  with  Cain — separate 
them  from  society,  and  imprison  them  for  life.  It 
has  also  been  successfully  argued  that  the  death 
penalty  does  not  deter  men  from  committing  crime, 
but  rather  induces  crime,  and  is  therefore  not  a  sure 
prevention.  The  only  true  means  of  preventing 
crime  is  the  certain  enforcement  of  the  law,  and  the 
punishment  being  made  reformatory  and  compensa- 
tory ;  compulsory  education  of  the  masses,  and  in 
placing  a  high  estimate  on  life,  educating  mankind  to 
the  belief  that "  the  chief  end  of  man"  will  be  to  look 
after  the  proper  culture  of  the  child,  in  order  that 
the  future  generation  may  develop  into  healthy,  in- 
tellectual, and  moral  men  and  women,  rather  than  to 
acquire  wealth  and  mere  earthly  possessions,  which 
are  at  any  time  liable  to  "  take  to  themselves  wings 
and  fly  away." 

Let  labor  be  looked  upon  as  honorable,  and  the 
working  classes  have  as  many  advantages  in  acquir- 
ing an  education  as  those  who  have  wealth,  and  our 
young  men  will  not  despise  to  learn  a  trade,  or  make 


OUR    PRESENT   JURY   SYSTEM.  275 

farming  their  profession.  As  it  is  now,  young  men 
aspire  to  some 

PROFESSION 

rather  than  to  learn  a  trade.  A  few  years  ago  we 
penned  a  short  article  on  this  subject  which  is  here 
inserted : 

"Some  mothers  and  sisters,  and  perhaps  fathers, 
may  be  mortified  because  one  of  the  family  chooses 
to  be  an  artisan  rather  than  a  clerk  in  a  counting- 
room.  So  far  as  education  goes,  perchance,  "  the 
honors  are  easy,"  but  looking  to  the  future  of  life, 
and  supposing  no  capital  but  brains  and  character, 
who  has  the  greatest  chance,  a  young  man  who 
wears  out  the  best  of  his  years  in  posting  books,  col- 
lecting debts  or  making  sales,  with  little  or  no  hope 
of  promotion,  and  who  considers  a  salary  of  two  or 
three  thousand  per  annum  large  pay — or  another 
who  learns  a  trade  thoroughly,  and  is  an  expert  in  a 
a  handicraft  always  in  demand,  at  the  highest  wages, 
making  as  his  own  master,  even  when  a  journeyman, 
from  fifteen  hundred  to  two  thousand  dollars  per 
annum,  and  as  he  gets  known,  taking  contracts  and 
gradually  passing  from  the  position  of  operative  to 
that  of  superintendent,  and  finally  that  of  "boss?" 
There  are  many  illustrations  of  this  fact  around  us. 
There  are  two  brothers  here  now,  for  example,  one  a 
physician  and  the  other  a  mechanic ;  the  last  could 
buy  out  the  first  and  not  feel  it;  he  is  received, 
as  he  deserves  to  be,  in  quite  as  good  a  social 
circle ;  and  his  children  mix  with  their  cousins  in  the 


276  CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT. 

same  associations,  notwithstanding  some  of  the 
"social  status"  shoddyites,  whose  progenitors  were 
coal-heavers,  may  turn  up  their  noses  at  them. 

"The  whole  question  of  his  supposed  inferiority 
lies  in  the  question  of  education  and  manners,  and 
nothing  else;  for,  other  things  being  equal,  that  is 
the  best  pursuit  which,  faithfully  and  intelligently 
adhered  to,  furnishes  steady  occupation,  affords  a 
reasonable  chance  of  promotion  as  the  result  of  in- 
dustry and  enterprise,  and,  above  all,  leaves  the  man 
independent,  and  not  the  servant  or  slave  of  a  cor- 
poration or  individual  upon  which  he  is  dependent 
for  his  daily  bread. 

"  It  is  a  melancholy  sight  to  see  a  gray-haired 
book-keeper,  or  a  vigorous  clerk,  cringing  and  fawn- 
ing to  suit  the  whims  or  caprices  of  some  fancied 
superior,  often  his  junior  in  years  and  experience, 
who  has  inherited  the  "  silver  spoon,"  but  is  his  infe- 
rior in  intellect  and  all  the  attributes  that  make  a 
man.  If  any  one  supposes  these  employes  do  not 
feel  the  humiliation  and  recognize  their  slavish  con- 
dition, he  is  mistaken.  Hard  and  stern  necessity 
compels  the  "hated  utterance"  and  submissive  mien. 
The  knee  is  too  often  crooked  "  that  thrift  may  fol- 
low fawning,"  and  so  the  man's  life  ebbs  out ;  and  at 
last  he  leaves,  perhaps,  a  widow  and  children  stranded 
on  the  bleak  shores  of  .the  world's  charity,  to  shift  for 
themselves  as  best  they  may.  How  many  of  our 
readers  will  respond,  "true,  we  know  it,"  and  would 
gladly,  if  they  could,  take  up  a  trade,  and  thus  work 
out  their  individual  freedom. 

"  We  do  not  suppose  that  in  this  wide  country  there 


OUR    PRESENT   JURY    SYSTEM.  277 

is  really  any  energetic  man  suffering,  if  he  will  work, 
but  every  one  who  has  been  in  California  or  the  far 
west,  or  any  new  country,  knows  that  doctors,  lawyers, 
store  and  office  clerks  are  a  comparatively  useless 
class  as  contrasted  with  those  who  understand  the 
tilling  of  the  soil  or  are  skilled  mechanics,     Your 
professional  man,  while  he  is  usually  respectable,  has 
one  great  drawback  in  the  necessity  of  doing  all  his 
work  himself.     You  can  not  preach,  try  causes,  physic, 
or  edit  a  newspaper  by  deputy,  unless  you  are  a  quack 
—a  humbug.     The  limit  of  your  income  is  your  own 
ability  to  earn  it,  save  in  the  exceptional  cases  of 
good  fortune  of  the  successful  merchant  or  tradesman, 
and  it  is  worthy  of  note  that  it  is  only  recently  that 
commercial  pursuits  have  been  allowed  to  class  with 
professions,  and  that  even  now,  in  Europe,  the  mer- 
chant, unless  he  has  wealth  enough  to  buy  his  way 
into  society,  is  as  much  under  the  ban  as  the  mechanic. 
"  How  much  better,  then,  would  it  be  if  our  young 
men,  instead  of  yielding  to  unworthy  prejudice,  and 
frittering  away  their  time  and  efforts  in  over-crowded, 
and  in  most  cases  unproductive,  pursuits,  would  go 
to  work  at  what  promises  prompt  and  certain  support, 
and,  with  skill,  sobriety,  and  industry,  insure  compe- 
tence. 


PART    III. 


THE  LAW. 


CHAPTER   XIX. 

ON    THE    LAWS    OF    NATURE. 

Our  first  effort  will  be  to  define  the  laws  of  nature, 
and  then  make  our  deductions  applicable  to  human 
life.  By  the  laws  of  nature,  we  understand  a  con- 
stant and  regular  order  of  facts,  by  which  God  gov- 
erns the  universe ;  a  regular  order  of  facts  which  are 

o 

presented  to  the  reason  of  man  through  the  five 
senses,  and  which  are  common  rules  for  the  guidance 
of  his  actions,  without  distinction  of  person,  age,  or 
sect,  and  a  close  observation  of  which  will  ultimate 
in  happiness. 

By  the  word,  law,  we  understand  "  an  order  or  pro- 
hibition to  act,  with  the  express  clause  of  a  penalty 
attached  to  the  infraction  or  of  a  recompense  attached 
to  the  observance  of  that  order."  Literally  it  signi- 
fies a  lecture,  translated  from  the  Latin  word  lex 
lectio,  which  took  its  name  from  the  practice  among 

279 


280  THE    LAW. 

the  ancient  nations  to  proclaim,  in  the  form  of  a  lec- 
ture made  to  the  people,  all  ordinances  and  regula- 
tions, in  order  that  they  might  observe  them,  and  not 
incur  the  penalties  attached  to  the  infraction  of  them. 
This  is  the  most  comprehensive  definition  that  can 
be  given  either  of  the  law  of  nature  or  of  the  word 
law  itself. 

Blackstone  divides  law  into  the  "  unwritten  and  the 
written."  The  unwritten  law  is  that  which  is  cogni- 
zable only  in  the  workings  of  nature.  It  is  a  fixed 
law  of  nature  that  water  flows  downward ;  that  it 
endeavors  to  find  its  level ;  that  it  is  heavier  than  air  ; 
that  all  bodies  tend  toward  the  earth;  that  flame 
ascends  toward  the  heavens ;  that  fire  disorganizes 
vegetables,  and  destroys  the  life  of  animals ;  that  air 
is  necessary  for  existence  ;  that  water  will  drown  all 
air-breathing  animals ;  that  certain  plants  will  poison 
and  kill,  and  certain  minerals  attack  the  organs  and 
destroy  life  when  taken  into  the  system  ;  that  the 
sun  illuminates  successively  every  portion  of  the 
surface  of  the  terrestrial  globe ;  that  its  presence 
causes  both  light  and  heat;  that  heat,  acting  upon 
water,  produces  vapors ;  that  those  vapors,  rising  in 
clouds  in  the  regions  of  the  air,  dissolve  into  rain  or 
snow,  and  renew  incessantly  the  waters  of  fountains 
and  of  rivers ;  and  so  on,  in  a  multitude  of  other  in- 
stances. The  unwritten  law  may  be  further  defined 
as  common  law,  which  is  a  rule  of  action  deriving  its 
authority  from  long  usage  or  established  custom, 
which  has  been  immemorially  received  and  recognized 
by  judicial  tribunals. 

The  written  law  is  a  rule  of  action  prescribed  or 


ON    THE    LAWS    OF    NATURE.  28 1 

enacted  by  the  legislative  powers,  and  promulgated 
and  recorded  in  written  statutes,  ordinances,  edicts, 
or  decrees. 

Natural  laws  are  always  right :  they  are  fixed,  and 
do  not  change  so  as  to  create  discord.  To  make  the 
legislative  acts  of  man  a  success,  they  must  agree 
with  nature's  laws  and  thus  only  can  the  written  law 
become  a  blessing  to  man.  For  man  to  accomplish 
this,  a  thorough  knowledge  of  nature,  or  what  is 
termed  the  unwritten  law,  is  requisite,  for  the  laws  of 
man  must  be  adjusted  strictly  in  accordance  with 
those  of  nature  before  we  can  hope  to  arrive  at  a 
just  determination  of  the  right  and  the  wrong.  We 
will  now 

PROCEED  TO  EXAMINE 

some  of  the  laws  of  nature  which  have  a  bearing  in 
governing  the  actions  of  men. 

Prof.  W.  Fishbaugh  says :  "  The  starting  point  of 
all  thought  and  investigation  with  every  human  being 
is  his  own  interior  consciousness.  This  is  to  every 
one  the  most  absolutely  fixed  of  all  facts — the  most 
positively  certain  of  all  certainties.  Hence  it  is  the 
position  from  which  all  other  certainties  and  uncer- 
tainties, probabilities  and  improbabilities,  possibilities 
and  impossibilities,  are  estimated.  But  as,  from  our 
individual  centers  of  consciousness  and  intellect,  we 
open  our  eyes  and  look  without  us,  we  find  ourselves 
surrounded  by  various  forms  and  conditions,  near 
and  remote,  which  act  upon  our  physical,  intellectual, 
and  moral  natures,  and  are  reacted  upon  by  us. 


282  THE    LAW. 

These  active  and  reactive  influences  are,  in  some 
sense,  at  a  constant  equipoise.  There  is  thus  a  uni- 
verse without,  and  a  universe  within  us, — a  universe 
of  cognizable  forms,  principles,  and  conditions,  and  a 
universe  of  cognizing  faculties, — the  one  being  re- 
lated to,  and  corresponding  with,  the  other.  It  is  a 
legitimate  object  and  privilege  of  every  inquiring 
mind  to  understand,  in  some  degree,  both  of  these 
universes ;  and  in  order  to  do  this  to  the  fullest  ex- 
tent, one  must  investigate  each  with  a  constant  regard 
to  its  analogy  with,  and  relation  to  the  other." 

The  forms  of  the  outer  universe  are  included  in  a 
few  simple  and  comprehensive  classifications,  arranged 
above  or  beneath  each  other  in  the  scale  of  creation. 
Those  beneath  man,  and  which  at  present  form  the 
special  subject  of  our  investigation,  are  embraced  in 
the  comprehensive  divisions  of  animal,  vegetable, 
mineral,  geological,  astronomical,  or  cosmical  forms. 
Of  these,  singularly  and  in  united  groups,  together 
with  their  more  superficial  properties,  the  interior 
soul  gains  a  preception  through  some  one  or  more  of 
the  sensational  channels,  known  as  touch,  taste,  sight, 
hearing  and  smell.  Proceeding  upon  the  basis  of 
the  impressions  received  through  these  avenues  of 
sense,  the  ratiocinative  faculty  becomes  the  medium 
of  some  knowledge  of  the  purposes  and  mutual  rela- 
tions of  these,  and  of  the  laws  by  which  they  are 
governed ;  and  availing  itself  of  the  contributions 
of  both  sense  and  reason,  at  the  same  time  that  it 
draws  from  its  own  interior  and  independent  re- 
sources, the  faculty  of  intuition  decides  upon  their 
causes,  their  life  forces,  and  their  more  interior  signi- 
fications. 


ON    THE    LAWS   OF    NATURE.  283 

The  universe,  or  rather  the  material  world,  makes 
an  impression  upon  our  senses,  without  which  there 
can  be  no  existence.  This  contact  with  physical 
nature  creates  a  certain  feeling,  or,  in  other  words, 
makes  an  impression  upon  the  interior  cognizing  fac- 
ulties, which  are  so  constituted  as  to  be  impressed 
by  the  cognizable  forms,  principles,  and  conditions 
of  the  surrounding  universe.  We  form  ideas  in  con- 
nection with  what  we  see,  hear,  touch,  taste,  or  smell ; 
and  we  say  how  rich,  how  beautiful  the  heavens  and 
the  earth,  when  exposed  to  our  sight.  The  senses 
combine  and  create  within  us  wonder  and  amazement 
when  we  contemplate  the  movements  of  the  universe, 
animated,  as  it  were,  with  a  soul,  as  our  own  bodies 
are,  and  we  speak  of  nature  in  a  sense  mysterious, — 
"  the  intentions  of  nature ;  the  incomprehensible 
secrets  of  nature," — all  operating  on  every  being  in 
various  ways  so  as  to  create  a  peculiar  ccfndition, 
both  in  the  external  conformation  as  well  as  in  the 
mental  operations. 

As  we  study  the  peculiarities  of  individuals,  we 
often  say,  "  The  nature  of  man  is  an  enigma ;  every 
being  acts  according  to  its  nature."  As  we  examine 
the  nature  of  things,  and  inquire  into  the  actions  of 
each  being,  or  each  species  of  beings,  we  see  that  all 
are  subject  to  constant  and  general  rules,  which  can 
not  be  infringed  without  interrupting  and  creating 
discord  in  the  general  as  well  as  the  particular  order 
of  things.  These  are  rules  of  action,  and  constitute 
what  are  called  natural  laws.  It  is  a  law  of  nature 
that  not  two  individuals  existing  are  precisely  alike 
in  external  conformation,  neither  in  mental  organi- 


284  THE    LAW. 

zation ;  at  least,  various  conditions  of  individual 
peculiarity  exist  in  a  relative  degree  of  activity. 
Now,  as  there  are  a  great  number  of  different  tissues, 
organs,  and  filaments,  which  constitute  the  physical 
organization,  and  a  great  variety  of  articles  of  diet, 
and  agencies  and  conditions  necessary  to  sustain  life, 
so  the  mind  is"  made  up  of  a  great  many  different 
faculties,  and  each  faculty  has  its  own  peculiarities 
which  operating  together,  constitute  an  individual 
character  which  manifests  itself  in  an  infinite  variety 
or  degree  of  activity,  and  thus  each  person  furnishes 
a  particular  element,  which,  when  organized,  consti- 
tutes what  is  termed  society. 

In  order,  then,  to  reform  an  individual,  it  is  neces- 
sary first  to  understand  the  nature  and  peculiarities 
of  the  individual  and  the  natural  laws  by  which  a 
change  may  be  wrought.  So  in  regard  to  society. 
To  bring  about  a  radical  change  in  any  of  the  cus- 
toms of  society,  it  will  be  necessary  to  co-operate 
with  the  primary  principles  of  nature,  and  to  be  suc- 
cessful in  this,  it  is  necessary  to  analyze  society, 
as  well  as  the  individual,  into  ultimate  parts  or 
elements. 

After  we  have  ascertained  the  ultimate  elements 
of  which  society  is  composed,  we  are  prepared  to 
extend  our  attention  to  the  proximate  elements,  or 
those  conditions  which  have  been  created  by  a  com- 
bination of  the  primary  or  ultimate  principles,  and 
having  inquired  into  the  effects  of  all,  we  can  easily 
retrace  our  steps  into  the  examination  of  the  causes. 
The  same  course  of  reasoning  is  applicable  in  our 
investigations  of  any  of  the  mysterious  workings  of 


ON    THE    LAWS   OF    NATURE.  285 

nature.  First,  to  understand  the  nature  and  the 
peculiarities  of  the  primary  elements  ;  then,  to  inquire 
into  the  nature  and  peculiarities  of  the  proximate 
elements,  and  the  conditions  and  the  effect  of  these 
elements  when  comprehended.  To  understand  the 
harmonious  operations  of  these  elements,  when  com- 
pounded, or,  in  other  words,  to  determine  whether 
the  effect  of  all  is  right  or  wrong,  is  wholly  a  matter 
of  experience,  and,  by  reasoning  analogically,  we  are 
enabled  to  form  a  correct  conclusion  as  to  the  right 

o 

actions  of  men. 

To  understand  the  various  conditions,  and  fully 
comprehend  the  natural  order  which  ends  in  right 
action,  is  our  present  object,  so  that  we  may  be  en- 
abled to  adjust  or  harmonize  man's  laws  with  the 
laws  of  nature.  In  the  first  place,  we  find  that  man 
is  so  organized  as  to  require  support  from  the  exter- 
nal world  to  maintain  his  existence.  In  the  second 
place,  there  is  no  demand  made  by  the  interior  or- 
ganization which  is  not  even  bountifully  supplied  by 
nature.  Man  has  but  to  use  proper  means  to  possess 
them  to  maintain  harmony  between  the  interior  and 
the  exterior,  to  aid  in  which,  two  universal  forces  are 
established  in  man,  which  attract  or  repel  him  in 
his  dealings  with  the  existing  corporal  surroundings, 
which  are  pleasure  and  pain.  Pleasure  attracts  and 
pain  repels.  The  primary  object  of  pain  is  the  pro- 
tection of  the  organic  integrity,  while  pleasure  pro- 
duces a  love  of  existence.  For  example,  under  cer- 
tain conditions,  cold  will  produce  an  unpleasant 
sensation,  and  the  being  is  thus  admonished  to  use 
rreans  by  which  to  protect  itself,  by  maintaining  an 


286  THE    LAW. 

equilibrium  of  temperature.  The  same  of  heat. 
Under  certain  conditions,  where  the  temperature  has 
been  raised  to  a  burning  heat,  the  being  is  imme- 
diately warned  on  coming  in  contact  with  it,  by  pain, 
to  protect  itself,  and  thus  avoid  being  destroyed. 
This  condition  first  gave  rise  to  the  necessity  of 
clothing  the  body,  and  also  to  the  construction  of 
houses,  for  protection  against  cold  and  heat,  in  order 
to  maintain  that  equilibrium  of  temperature  which  is 
necessary  for  the  proper  expansion  of  life.  While 
man  is  thus  engaged  in  clothing  and  protecting  the 
body  against  violence  from  whatever  cause,  a  sensa- 
tion of  pleasure  is  produced,  which  creates  a  satis- 
faction, and  is  the  reward  of  labor. 

Hunger  is  the  messenger  which  informs  the  being 
that  the  body  is  in  need  of  food  for  the  purpose  of 
maintaining  the  internal  integrity  of  the  organization. 
Were  it  not  for  the  pleasure  experienced  in  eating,  it 
is  doubtful  whether  people  would  supply  the  body 
with  nourishment,  simply  from  duty,  receiving  no 
other  reward  than  mere  existence. 

These  are,  then,  the  forces  which  cause  men  to  act 
in  a  physical  sense,  and  we  shall  show  that  all  human 
actions  have  their  starting-point  in  man's  endeavor 
to  flee  from  pain,  unpleasantness,  and  sorrow,  and  to 
attain  pleasure,  satisfaction,  ease,  and  happiness. 
These  are  natural  laws ;  and  while  nature  inflicts 
pain  under  certain  circumstances,  she  also  provides 
the  means  by  which  to  avoid  or  overcome  such  cir- 
cumstances, and  rewards  the  being  by  giving  pleasure 
in  place  of  pain.  Pain,  then,  is  a  teacher  rather  than 
a  chastizing  or  condemning  pow&r.  When  certain 


ON    THE    LAWS   OF    NATURE.  287 

circumstances  exist  which  are  contrary  to  the  nature 
and  welfare  of  man,  this  force  teaches  him  how  to 
use  means  to  the  end  of  overcoming  the  difficulty, 
and  thus  leads  him  to  happiness.  Here  we  see  no 
malice,  no  revenge  ;  nor  can  we  find  that  nature  ever 
outrages  her  own  laws.  Pain,  in  truth,  may  be  con- 
sidered an  angel  of  mercy, — not  a  "fiend  from  the 
regions  of  darkness."  We  have  stated  that  the 
starting-point  of  the  actions  of  man  is  in  pain  and 
pleasure.  This  is  true  in  a  physical  sense;  and  now 
let  us  see  if  the  same  course  of  reasoning  will  not 
apply  in  regard  to  the  mind.  It  has  been  stated  that 
the  exterior  world  makes  certain  impressions  upon 
the  five  senses,  and  thence  an  impression  is  conveyed 
to  the  mind,  arousing  certain  faculties,  or  producing 
certain  impressions  upon  the  cognizing  powers  of  the 
interior.  Intellectuality  proceeds  in  regular  order  as 
the  external  impressions  are  conveyed.  We  will  take 
pain  again,  for  example.  The  first  impression  made 
on  the  physical,  as  well  as  on  the  mental,  is  a  feeling 
of  resistance,  and  the  first  mental  faculties  which  are 
called  into  requisition  are  combativeness,  destruct- 
iveness,  and  the  selfish  propensities.  These  are  the 
executive  powers,  and  immediately  bring  into  use 
such  measures  as  the  nature  of  the  difficulty  may  in- 
dicate. These  faculties,  however,  are  subject  to  the 
higher  faculties  of  reason,  caution,  acquisitiveness, 
and  conscientiousness,  or,  in  other  words,  the  moral 
and  intellectual  faculties,  which  proceed  analogically 
and  in  accordance  with  previous  experiences. 

Thus  the  mind  is  interested  in  the  welfare  of  the 
physical    organization  through  which  it  operates  in 


288  THE    LAW. 

providing  for  its  wants ;  to  relieve  when  distressed, 
to  feed  when  hungered,  to  clothe  when  naked ;  and 
even  to  provide  for  future  necessities  by  laying  up  a 
store  of  provisions,  acquiring  property,  and  to  pursue 
happiness,  which  is  the  ultimate  object  of  all  human 
action. 

There  can  be  no  physical  sensation  without  a  cor- 
responding impression  being  made  on  the  mind,  or, 
at  least,  on  one  or  more  of  the  faculties  of  the  mind 
which  correspond  to  the  nature  or  kind  of  impression 
conveyed  through  the  physical  communicating  chan- 
nels. The  physical  wants  of  the  body  are  constantly 
making  demands  on  the  faculty  of  acquisitiveness, 
and  this  calls  into  requisition  the  executive  faculties, 
which  go  to  work  to  supply  the  necessary  means  of 
support  or  give  protection.  Sensation  does  not  end 
here.  The  higher  tribunals  are  impressed  which 
judge  of  the  right,  the  propriety,  or  the  possibility  of 
consummating  or  complying  with  the  requisition  that 
is  made.  The  same  is  true  of  the  social  and  of  the 
sexual  propensities,  which  make  a  constant  demand 
for  the  exercise  of  their  functions,  wholly  for  the 
pleasure  which  such  exercise  affords.  So  in  regard 
to  other  propensities  or  faculties  of  the  mind.  In 
regard  to  the  mind  rendering  a  just  verdict  in  decid- 
ing upon  the  right  or  the  wrong  of  any  of  the 
demands  or  requisitions  that  are  made,  we  will  find 
that  this  is  done  in  accordance  with  a  previous 
knowledge  acquired  through  experience  or  by  being 
educated  through  the  experience  of  others,  conveyed 
to  the  mind  by  means  of  one  or  all  of  the  five  senses. 
In  this  manner  man  acquires  knowledge  of  the  fixed 


ON    THE    LAWS    OF    NATURE.  289 

laws  of  nature,  and  also  of  the  penalty  which  follows 
any  actions  which  are  in  disregard  of  such  laws. 
There  are  many  real  and  regular  orders  or  laws 
which  may  be  stated  to  illustrate  how  man  gains  a 
knowledge  of  the  laws  of  nature  to  which  he  must 
conform.  For  example :  if  man  pretends  to  see 
clear  in  darkness ;  if  he  goes  in  contradiction  to  the 
course  of  the  seasons,  or  the  actions  of  the  elements ; 
if  he  pretends  to  remain  under  water  without 
being  drowned ;  to  touch  fire  without  burning  him- 
self; to  deprive  himself  of  air  without  being  suffo- 
cated ;  to  swallow  poison  without  destroying  himself, 
he  receives  from  each  of  these  infractions  of  the 
laws  of  nature  a  punishment  proportionate  to  his 
faults.  But  if,  on  the  contrary,  he  observes  and 
practices  each  of  these  laws  according  to  the  regular 
and  exact  relations  they  have  to  him,  he  preserves 
his  existence,  and  renders  it  as  happy  as  it  can  be. 

We  find,  further,  that  it  is  a  law  of  nature  that 
man,  under  certain  circumstances,  is  severely  punished ; 
or,  in  other  words,  he  suffers  pain  in  gaining  knowl- 
edge by  practical  experience.  Under  other  circum- 
stances, knowledge  is  acquired  by  the  reward  of 
pleasure,  the  opposite  force,  which  is  the  attractive 
while  pain  is  the  repelling  force  of  man's  actions. 
Thus  man  is  endowed  with  the  power  to  judge  ac- 
cording to  the  kind  of  impression  that  is  made  upon 
him, whether  such  impression  produces  an  unpleasant 
sensation  or  a  feeling  of  pleasure.  He  says,  "  This 
is  pleasant  to  me ;  this  I  will  pursue ;  or,  "  This  is 
unpleasant,  and  this  course  I  will  shun."  Now,  with- 
out a  knowledge  of  the  right  road  to  happiness,  .man 

19 


THE    LAW. 

is  liable  constantly  to  incur  the  infliction  of  pain, 
Even  in  his  endeavor  to  relieve  himself,  he  often 
makes  bad  worse;  but  by  the  long  experience  of 
men,  through  the  many  and  progressive  ages  of 
human  existence,  much  has  been  learned  in  regard 
to  the  laws  of  nature,  and  the  intimate  relation  which 
man  sustains  to  them.  This  knowledge  is  transmitted 
to  the  rising  generation  by  precept,  by  tradition,  by 
record,  and,  if  properly  inculcated,  will  enable  the 
future  generation  to  pass  along  through  life  without 
having  to  go  back  and  learn  by  practical  experience. 
Hence,  we  see  how  necessary  it  is  to  institute  laws 
and  institutions  of  learning  to  benefit  the  race  by  the 
experience  of  those  who  lived  before  us,  continuing 
to  add  little  by  little  to  the  previously  acquired  store 
of  knowledge  through  our  own  experience  ;  for  it  is 
impossible  to  exist  scarcely  a  moment  without  being 
impressed  by  our  surroundings,  and  we  form  an  idea 
as  to  the  nature  of  such  impressions  and  judge  of 
the  pleasant  or  unpleasant  sensation  which  is  made 
on  the  cognizable  principle  within  us.  It  is  easy  to 
perceive  how  to  construct  laws  which  will  insure  to 
every  individual  a  happy  physical  existence.  The 
revelations  that  have  been  made  by  physiology,  give 
us  a  correct  idea  concerning  how  to  feed  and  how  to 
clothe  the  body,  how  to  exercise,  sleep,  bathe,  and 
how  to  educate  each  mental  faculty,  in  order  to  live 
a  healthy  and  happy  life.  It  has  been  determined 
that  a  crude,  unreformed,  animal-like  organization 
has  a  corresponding  effect  on  the  mental  organiza- 
tion, and  we  have  a  gross,  unregenerated,  beastly 
Character  to  deal  with ;  while,  under  opposite  condi- 


ON    THE    LAWS   OF    NATURE.  29! 

tion,  where  persons  understand  and  live  strictly  in 
harmony  with  the  principles  of  physiology,  an  en- 
lightened and  highly  refined  character  is  manifested, 
one,  too,  highly  moral  and  religious;  for  we  shall 
claim  for  physiology  the  starting-point  of  all  correct 
human  action.  All  other  branches  of  education  are 
really  and  only  collaterals. 

HUMAN  LAWS 

must  be  in  harmony  with  the  laws  governing  physi- 
cal life  before  we  can  expect  to  adjust  them  in  har- 
mony with  the  higher  nature  of  man,  or  rather  the 
laws  of  nature  which  govern  moral  action.  For  ex- 
ample, it  is  a  law  of  physiology  that  time,  practice, 
and  favorable. surroundings  are  necessary  to  develop, 
to  educate,  and  to  regenerate  a  gross  organization.  To 
facilitate  a  healthy  growth,  all  obstacles  must  be  re- 
moved, and  the  agencies  that  support  a  harmonious 
exercise  of  the  capabilities  of  man  be  supplied. 
This  can  not  be  done  by  laws  which  only  exact  a  for- 
feiture of  money  or  property  with  a  view  thereby  to 
cure  a  condition  of  depravity.  As  well  take  the 
clothing  from  a  man  already  too  poorly  clad,  to  pro- 
tect him  against  cold,  bread  from  a  child  sparingly 
fed,  in  the  endeavor  to  support  its  physical  existence. 
Any  law  where  "  might  makes  right"  is  contrary  to 
nature,  and  we  can  easily  see  the  true  philosophy  of 
our  argument,  in  the  fact  that  a  man,  before  he  will 
freeze,  will  steal.  This  is  only  obeying  a  physical 
law,  and  man's  law,  instead  of  taking  that  which  the 
offender  has,  should  supply  him  with  an  extra  gar- 


2 Q2  THE    LAW. 

ment ;  and  the  moral  effect  will  be  obvious.  We 
see,  therefore,  that  all  legislation  which  is  intended  to 
govern  the  actions  of  men  must  first  be  in  harmony 
with  physiological  laws,  or  we  shall  never  be  enabled 
to  do  so  correctly.  So  long  as  man's  laws  continue 
to  disregard^  the  physical  laws  of  nature,  just  so 
long  shall  we  fail  in  creating  laws  the  infraction  of 
which  will  bring  a  just  punishment  upon  the  trans- 
gressor. We  have  stated  that  human  action  begins 
with  physical  existence,  and  that  though  our  ideas 
have  their  starting-point  in  the  things  of  the  corporal 
or  cognizable  universe,  pain  and  pleasure,  the  primary 
forces,  which  cause  men  to  act  physically,  so  to 
speak,  as  well  as  mentally,  that  we  are  endowed  with 
a  principle  which  is  the  cognizing  or  a  universe  with- 
in ;  that  pain  repels  and  pleasure  attracts;  that  pain 
is  an  admonishing  principle  or  force,  which  teaches 
the  being  to  avoid  that  which  is  wrong,  and  pleasure 
is  that  which  rewards  as  well  as  creates  a  feeling  of 
right ;  that  the  mind  calls  into  requisition  every  avail- 
able means  to  enable  the  being  to  flee  from  pain  and 
attain  to  happiness;  that  physiology  is  the  only  re- 
liable science  or  branch  of  education  which  teaches 
the  plain  road  to  health  and  happiness,  and  all  other 
branches  of  education  are  auxiliary,  and  all  join  in 
rendering  man's  physical  existence  harmonious  with 
the  general  and  special  laws  of  nature  ;  that  the 
mind  reasons  on  all  subjects  analogically,  and  decides 
between  the  ri^ht  and  the  wrong-,  by  a  knowledge 

o  o'       J  o 

previously  acquired,  either  through  personal  experi- 
ence or  from  being  taught  by  precept,  tradition,  or 
by  reading  the  records  of  the  experience  of  others ; 


ON    THE    LAWS    OF    NATURE.  293 

that  human  laws  must  agree  with  the  laws  of  nature, 
and  especially  with  the  laws  of  physiology,  in  order 
to  be  successful  in  regulating  the  actions  of  man ; 
that  criminals  require  treatment  on  the  same  princi- 
ple that  a  person  who  is  in  a  physically  diseased  con- 
dition is  not  indisputable,  and  the  treatment  must  be 
in  harmony  with  physiology;  that  might  does  not 
make  right,  nor  is  the  old  Mosaic  law,  which  taught 
"  an  eye  for  an  eye  or  a  tooth  for  a  tooth/'  any  reason 
whatever  why  we  should  so  legislate  at  the  present 
day. 

The  question  may  now  be  raised,  "  Can  man,  by 
the  study  of  nature  alone,  arrive  at  a  just  conclusion 
as  to  what  is  right  and  what  is  wrong?" 

Speaking  from  a 

MORAL  STANDPOINT, 

we  answer,  that  nature  is  the  only  source  whence  we 
derive  any  truth,  and  that  a  moral  action  is  strictly 
defined  by  nature  as  well  as  by  Divine  revelation. 
We  derive  from  the  light  of  nature  the  same  idea 
that  is  declared  in  the  New  Testament,  namely: 
"  Do  unto  all  men  as  you  would  have  them  do  unto 
you."  In  the  first  place,  we  remark  that  it  is  very 
easily  ascertained  from  our  own  feelings  whether, 
under  certain  circumstances,  we  are  in  pain  or  having 
a  pleasant  sensation.  If  the  sensation  experienced 
is  painful,  we  say  it  is  wrong,  because  it  is  contrary 
to  our  own  nature,  and  we  resist  it.  If,  however,  the 
sensation  is  pleasant,  and  perfectly  congenial  with 
our  nature,  we  say  that  is  right,  and  we  pursue  it. 


294  THE    LAW. 

Thus  far  our  argument  will  be  admitted.  Now,  if 
this  is  good  reasoning  in  regard  to  the  physical 
sensations  produced  through  the  physical  senses, 
then,  as  it  has  already  been  stated  that  a  correspond- 
ing impression  is  made  on  the  mind,  do  we  not  derive 
a  correct  idea  of  right  and  wrong?  As  the  body  is 
thus  guarded  and  instructed,  as  it  were,  by  the  sensa- 
tions of  pain  and  pleasure,  when  we  are  in  discord  or 
inharmonious  relation  to  the  laws  of  nature,  then  are 
we  not  so  organized  mentally,  also  to  draw  a  moral 
conclusion  from  such  action  ?  What  sensation  is  to 
the  body,  conscience  is  to  the  mind.  Conscience, 
therefore,  always  decides  whether  an  act  is  right  or 
wrong.  If  it  is  decided  that  a  certain  act  is  wrong,  a 
feeling  of  remorse  is  produced,  and  we  are  morally 
in  pain ;  or,  if  it  is  decided  that  such  an  act  is  right, 
then  we  are  morally  happy.  If  a  feeling  of  remorse 
is  produced  upon  the  mind,  then  the  first  impression 
is  a  feeling  of  resistance,  and  the  intellectual  facul- 
ties are  implored  to  assist  in  providing  means  to 
overcome  the  difficulty.  If  a  feeling  of  right  is  pro- 
duced, then  all  is  happiness. 

Conscience  also  proceeds  to  decide  between  right 
and  wrong,  in  accordance  with  a  previous  experience 
and  education,  brought  about  variously  by  our  senses 
combining  and  creating  knowledge.  The  starting- 
point  of  all  is  in  the  physical  sensation  that  is  pro- 
duced on  the  bodily  senses,  the  mind  drawing  an 
analogical  conclusion,  and  by  so  reasoning  a  moral 
feeling  is  produced.  We  will  illustrate  our  idea. 
For  example,  we  come  in  contact  with  a  red-hot  iron ; 
we  find  that  it  will  burn  us ;  a  feeling  of  pain  is  pro- 


ON    THE    LAWS    OF    NATURE.  295 

duced,  and  we  use  means  to  avoid  further  contact. 
Our  contact  may  have  been  accidental  or  intentional— 
the  effect  is  the  same;  the  hot  iron  will  burn  us. 
Here  we  have  learned  a  very  important  lesson,  yet  so 
far  no  moral  feeling  is  produced.  But  we  see  a  child 
advancing,  who  knows  not  that  the  hot  iron  will  burn 
it,  and  if,  without  giving  the  child  instruction,  We 
allow  it  to  take  the  hot  iron  in  its  hand,  its  hand  is 
burned  to  a  crisp,  and  it  is  crippled  for  life,  and  we 
know,  from  previous  experience,  that  the  iron  would 
burn  it,  as  also  that  we  might  have  prevented  such  a 
calamity,  a  moral  feeling  is  now  produced  in  us,  and 
we  are  having  moral  pain  while  the  child  is  suffering 
only  physical  pain.  We  will  illustrate  our  idea  still 
further.  Suppose  you  have  no  knowledge  of.  the  iron 
being  hot,  and  your  neighbor  does  know,  but  neglects 
to  instruct  you  so  as  to  save  you  from  a  sad  experi- 
ence, the  first  feeling  you  will  have  toward  him  will 
be  that  of  revenge,  and  you  will  call  him  to  account 
for  not  instructing  you  in  regard  to  the  iron  being 
hot.  Now  reverse  the  case,  and,  without  the  knowl- 
edge and  experience  you  have,  another  advances 
whom  you  might  save  from  meeting  with  the  same 
fate,  but  you  neglect  to  do  so, — a  moral  feeling  is 
produced  in  your  mind,  and  conscience  will  say, 
under  the  circumstances,  you  ought  to  have  done  as 
well  by  this  man  as  you  wished  the  other  to  do  unto 
you.  Thus  a  moral  action  is  produced,  and  a  moral 
lesson  is  learned  from  the  light  of  nature  alone.  If 
it  were  not  for  the  wise  provision  which  was  made  by 
our  Creator  in  creating  the  faculty  of  conscience, 
might  would  make  right ;  or,  in  other  words,  the 


296  THE    LAW. 

strongest  would  rule,  and  there  would  be  no  moral 
accountability,  and  consequently  no  law  would  be 
necessary  to  regulate  the  actions  of  men.  Before 
the  moral  and  the  intellectual  faculties  were  educated, 
man  was  in  a  savage  state,  and  even  now  approxi- 
mates to  the  brute  in  exact  ratio  as  his  moral  educa- 
tion is  neglected.  The  person  who  possesses  a  well- 
balanced  physical  organization,  and  a  correspondingly 
well-balanced  moral  education,  requires  no  law  to 
restrain  or  force  him  into  right  doing.  But  since 
such  persons  are  rarely  to  be  found,  and  the  majority 
are  comparatively  in  an  unbalanced  condition,  legis- 
lation is  necessary,  only  however  with  a  view  to  edu- 
cate on  the  one  hand  and  to  restrain  on  the  other. 

"  How  may  we  know  that  we  'shall  not  steal?" 
asks  one.  "  Does  nature  teach  us  that  we  must  not 
appropriate  to  ourselves  that  which 

BELONGS   TO    ANOTHER?" 

We  answer  that  it  does,  from  the  fact  that  every 
human  being  is  endowed  with  the  faculty  of  acquisi- 
tiveness which  says,  this  or  that  is  my  own,  and  you 
must  not  take  it  from  me  without  compensating  me 
for  it.  Having  such  a  feeling  ourselves,  then,  when 
we  steal  from  another,  conscience  and  reason  will 
chide  us,  and  we  know  that  we  have  not  done  as  we 
wish  to  be  done  by.  From  this  same  standpoint  we 
reason,  also,  that  when  we  have  lost  property,  we 
have  a  desire  to  bring  the  perpetrator  to  an  account, 
and  if  we  can  get  a  majority  of  the  community  to 
think  as  we  do,  we  can  have  a  law  enacted  by  which 


ON    THE    LAWS    OF    NATURE.  297 

the  thief  may  be  tried  and  punished.  The  punish- 
ment should  be,  first,  to  make  reparation  of  the  stolen 
property,  or  we  bring  the  criminal  to  account  mainly 
through  a  feeling  of  revenge ;  and,  secondly,  to  re- 
form the  criminal,  that  he  may  never  commit  a  like 
crime  again.  This  question  has  been  sufficiently  argued 
in  Part  II.  of  this  volume.  No  one,  therefore,  can 
appropriate  property,  knowing  that  it  belongs  to 
another,  without  feeling  that  he  has  stolen,  though  he 
is  entirely  ignorant  of  the  command,  "  Thou  shalt 
not  steal." 

We  will  now  consider  how  men  run  into 

ECCENTRIC  CHANNELS, 

while  in  the  pursuit  of  happiness.  Men's  organiza- 
tions differ  in  regard  to  temperamental  condition,  or 
in  the  various  combinations  of  the  elements  of 
nervous  susceptibility,  and  manifest  as  many  different 
dispositions  as  there  are  individuals.  On  the  subject 
of  nervous  sensibility  we  wrote  an  article,  a  few  years 
ago,  and  think  it  quite  proper  to  reproduce  some  of 
the  ideas : 

"  The  action  of  the  nervous  system  is  always  ad- 
dressed to  our  senses.  This  is  so  decided,  when  the 
moral  feelings  are  greatly  agitated,  as  to  effect  the 
exercise  of  the  other  functions.  The  dynamic  con- 
ditions of  the  organism,  being  no  longer  in  just  pro- 
portion, all  the  springs  of  life  share  in  the  activity  of 
the  nervous  system.  It  is  remarkable,  indeed,  that 
the  metaphorical  language  of  all  languages,  accurately 
represents  the  effects  produced  on  the  body  by  an 


2Q8  THE    LAW. 

exalted  sensibility.  The  blood  freezes — the  eyes 
sparkle — the  heart  burns — we  tremble  with  fear  or 
hope — we  are  pale  with  fright,  swollen  with  pride, 
panting  with  desire — these  are  examples  of  truthful 
metaphors  in  all  languages.  In  a  word,  organic  dis- 
turbances and  the  agitations  of  the  mind  are  in  per- 
fect correspondence,  evidently  because  the  source  of 
both  is  identical.  When  these  truths  are  considered, 
we  shall  cease  to  wonder  that  the  rules  of  aesthetic 
art  have  been  referred  to  feeling,  or  that  Abbot 
should  say,  *  Sensibility  is  the  source  of  all  our 
genius.'  Montaigne  has  already  observed  that  *  a 
man  is  of  no  account  until  he  is  aroused.'  This  is  so 
true  that  a  boor  may  become  eloquent  under  the 
excitement  of  strong  emotion.  Certainly,  the  spirited 
personifications  of  savage  oratory,  such  as,  *  Shall  we 
say  to  the  bones  of  our  fathers — rise  and  march  with 
us?'  or  the  mournful  and  stirring  watchword  of  the 
Vendean  peasants,  'Long  live  the  king  T  are  as  pow- 
erful and  startling  as  the  words  which  Massillion 
thundered  in  the  ears  of  the  Court  of  Louis  the 
Fourteenth  :  '  /  think  this  very  hour  yo^t,r  last,  and 
the  end  of  the  world'  No  one  is  ignorant  of  their 
effect  on  his  auditory.  So  we  may  perceive  how 
feeling  contributes  in  the  reply  of  Buffon  to  La  Car- 
damine,  where  he  describes  him  wandering  over 
1  mountains  covered  with  eternal  snow,  through  im- 
mense solitudes,  where  Nature  was  habituated  to  a 
silence  so  profound,  that  she  herself  would  have  been 
startled  at  the  human  voice  that  dared  to  interrogate 

o 

her  secrets/  The  audience  struck  with  the  sublimity 
of  the  figure,  sat  a  few  seconds  hushed  and  breath- 


ON    THE    LAWS    OF    NATURE.  299 

less,  when  a  thunder  of  applause  greeted  the  orator. 
Whatever  may  be  the  reason,  high  moral  and  intel- 
lectual culture  adds  little  to  the  effect  of  eloquence ; 
all  its  powerj  is  due  to  profound  emotion.  Speak  to 
my  soul  if  you  would  have  my  soul  give  ear — that 
above  all  others  is  the  precept  the  orator  should  heed. 
M.  Villemain,  one  of  the  most  distinguished  among 
our  men  of  letters,  declares  Tacitus  to  be  the  great- 
est historian, precisely  because  'while  he  is  the  most 
candid  and  impartial,  he  is,  I  dare  avow,  at  the  same 
time,  the  most  passionate ;  because  he  decrees  like  a 
judge,  and  testifies  like  a  sworn  witness,  though 
excited  and  indignant  at  what  he  has  seen/ 

"  It  is  now  an  easy  matter  to  explain  by  an  applica- 
tion, the 

LAWS  OF  THE  SENSIBILITY; 

the  moral  peculiarities  of  men,  the  most  remarkable 
for  their  labors  and  genius.  Predisposed  by  nature 
to  feeling,  to  lively  emotion,  because  in  their  case  the 
impressions  received  surpass  in  intensity  and  dura- 
tion, the  occasions  that  give  rise  to  them ;  they  are 
eager  for  these,  impressions  and  the  sensations  they 
produce,  and  store  them  up  from  their  earliest  years. 
On  account  of  the  variety  of  ideas  they  acquire  in  a 
brief  space  of  time,  they  very  early  learn  to  judge 
and  understand ;  then  endowed  with  the  capacity  of 
expression,  carried  away  and  enraptured  with  their 
own  thoughts,  they  experience  an  irresistible  craving 
to  communicate  them,  to  cast  them  into  the  world  oi 
intelligence.  And  these  thoughts  we  must  say  im- 


3OO  THE    LAW. 

pose  laws  on  the  world ;  they  are  the  life-giving 
energy  that  emanates  from  those  powerful  souls  that 
civilize  the  nations,  elevate  them,  sometimes  degrade 
them,  or  regenerate  or  enable  them  to  accom- 
plish their  destiny.  The  force  of  circumstances  in 
the  social  world  is  only  the  force  of  ideas.  Cromwell 
was  in  his  age  *  the  visible  destiny  of  that  time.' 
Napoleon  was  the  destiny  of  the  opening  epoch  of 
our  century.  But  how  is  it  possible  to  believe  that 
such  vital  and  intellectual  activity  can  co-exist  with 
the  regular  and  tranquil  exercise  of  the  functions  of 
the  organism  ?  Is  not  life  here  in  excess,  in  the 
moral  as  well  as  the  physical  economy?  Consider, 
indeed,  that  agitation  which  is  never  stilled,  that  im- 
patient and  never-resting  activity,  that  inward  turbu- 
lence of  emotion,  which  constantly  disturb  the 
organic  forces,  that  feeling  of  abounding  life  so 
intense  and,  at  times,  so  painfully  oppressive,  which 
gives  to  the  character  of  distinguished  men  an  air  of 
violence  and  disquietude,  a  something  feverish  and 
inexplicable  entirely  alien  to  ordinary  experience. 
This  restless  and  disturbed  condition  ceases,  or  is  at 
least  in  a  measure  subdued,  when  life  is  very  active, 
or  even  when  by  literary  labor,  the  torrent  of  thought 
and  emotion  is  able  to  find  vent.  This  crisis  is  ordi- 
narily beneficial.  The  master  works  of  art  are  pro- 
duced, the  treasures  of  feeling  and  imagination  are 
poured  out  to  relieve  the  over-burdened  spirit,  and 
satisfy  a  burning  aspiration  ;  this  is  in  accordance 
with  a  law  of  the  organization.  The  poetry  is  in  the 
poet,  just  as  sound  is  in  the  lyre ;  this  is  a  truth  of 
positive  physiology.  The  man  of  genius  has  often 


ON   THE   LAWS   OF    NATURE.  30! 

labored  without  a  thought  as  to  what  should  become 
of  his  work,  simply  for  self-gratification,  happy  in  his 
success.  A  multitude  of  inferences  might  be  deduced 
from  these  principles,  applicable  to  science,  art  and 
education,  but  such  details  are  inconsistent  with  the 
object  of  this  work;  its  purpose  is  fundamental  posi- 
tions, and  these  I  am  anxious  to  establish. 

"  Perhaps  it  will  be  said  that  the  above  reflections 
apply  to  artists  alone,  in  whom  the  imagination  is 
generally  more  ardent  than  with  men  of  science ; 
this  is  an  erroneous  impression.  The  savant  whose 
highest  capacity  is  simply  to  understand,  is  a  man  of 
erudition  merely — he  knows  what  has  been,  but  en- 
dowed with  higher  intellectual  gifts,  he  desires  to 
extend  to  boundaries  of  science ;  he  investigates,  he 
invents,  he  imagines.  If  facts  do  not  accord  with  his 
imagined  explanation,  it  remains  a  vague  theory  or 
hypothesis;  if  on  the  contrary,  facts  agree  with  it 
and  the  theory  is  their  only  fair  exponent,  pro- 
gress has-  been  made,  whether  reached  by  syn- 
thesis or  by  analytical  and  inductive  processes. 
To  apprehend  a  general  principle,  to  perceive  its 
most  remote  consequences,  and  trace  them  out 
with  such  vigor,  boldness  and  pertinacity  of  thought 
as  to  reach  immense  and  valuable  results,  and 
next  to  state  and  formalize  that  controlling 
principle  as  to  render  it  intelligible,  and  explanatory 
of  whatever  may  be  legitimately  deduced  from  it— 
this  is  certainly  a  work  of  intellect  to  be  performed 
only  by  the  aid  of  a  powerful  imagination.  So  far  as 
regards  invention,  Homer  and  Archimedes  may  justly 
be  said  to  occupy  the  same  rank.  That  keen  sensi- 


3O2  THE    LAW. 

bility  of  soul,  moreover,  which  animates  one  with 
enthusiasm  for  ideas,  is  a  characteristic  .of  savans,  as 
well  as  artists  ;  they  have  the  same  passion,  the  same 
fanaticism  for  their  works,  their  conceptions,  their 
theories  or  systems. 

"  There  is  in  the  nerves,  the  veins,  the  blood,  the 
very  fibres  of  the  man  of  genius,  whether  he  be 
savant,  artist,  poet,  or  mathematician,  something 
which  predisposes  him  to  extravagance,  either  in 
ideas,  sentiment  or  action.  Thus  the  man  of  vigor- 
ous and  active  imagination,  must  always  appear  a 
kind  of  enigma  to  one  of  a  cooler  temperament. 
Which  of  the  three  was  the  most  demented — Archi- 
medes, the  mathematician,  running  naked  through 
the  streets  of  Syracuse,  shouting  '  I  have  found  it !' 
Peter  of  Cortona,  saying  to  the  bronze  statue  of  a 
horse,  '  Well,  why  do  you  not  move,  do  you  not  know 
you  are  alive?'  or  the  mineralogist,  Werner,  ever 
ready  to  dash  in  pieces  the  finest  statue,  to  examine 
the  structure  of  the  marble  of  which  it  was  made  ? 
Such  generous  frenzies  of  the  soul  evidently  depend 
upon  a  sensibility  capable  of  excitation  from  the 
slightest  imaginable  causes. 

"  Sometimes  owing  to 

EXCESSIVE  EMOTION, 

agitation  or  excitement,  the  faculties  are  stunned  into 
a  sort  of  impotence  or  stolid  apathy.  The  individual 
then  feels  the  want  of  inordinate  moral  stimulus,  the 
soul's  vitality  seems  exhausted  and  burnt  out,  as  the 
body  of  the  voluptuary  becomes  wasted  and  worn. 


ON    THE    LAWS    OF    NATURE.  303 

The  cause  of  this  exhaustion  and  need  of  stimulus 
is  the  same,  and  is  easily  explained.  However  supe- 
rior the  nervous  system,  taken  as  a  whole,  may  be  to 
the  other  functions  of  the  organism,  it  is  confined  to 
certain  limits  of  action  compatible  with  the  entire 
human  constitution.  The  intellectual  and  moral  life 
is  the  highest,  the  inner  and  true  life  of  man ;  but 
like  every  vital  energy  it  must  act  within  prescribed 
bounds.  If  we  give  to  the  functions  of  feeling  and 
knowing  unlimited  range,  the  organism  will  soon  be 
unable  to  respond  to  such  action,  and  will  be  deprived 
of  its  vigor  with  greater  or  less  rapidity.  In  that 
case,  the  higher  man  becomes  a  victim  to  chimerical 
and  fantastic  ideas.  He  still  desires,  but  what  does 
he  desire  ?  what  would  he  have  ?  for  what  does  he 
sigh  ?  He  knows  not.  This  excessive  aspiration  of 
the  faculties  towards  something  undefinable  and  un- 
create ;  this  soul  sometimes  rapt  away  to  the  third 
heaven,  and  again  cast  down  and  grieved  to  death; 
these  flights  of  a  dreamy  and  morbid  imagination, 
without  apparent  aim  or  determined  object, "  heaving 
its  restless  waves  in  a  sea  without  shore,"  have  been 
very  well  described  by  many  writers.  It  is  a  state 
which  has  a  real  existence  in  certain  individuals  en- 
dowed with  great  moral  energy,  too  early  and  inor- 
dinately developed.  I  will  only  observe  that  romance 
writers  usually  describe  it  as  a  condition  peculiar  to 
youth,  while  on  the  contrary,  medical  observation  has 
shown  me  that  the  man  who  has  had  some  experience 
of  life  is  more  frequently  afflicted  with  it.  The  fresh 
and  vigorous  sensibility  of  the  youth,  and  the  grandeur 
of  his  hopes,  give  sufficient  scope  to  the  activity  of 


304  THE    LAW. 

the  spirit.  Another  proof  that  this  singular  state  is 
a  consequence  of  a  premature  exhaustion  of  the 
sensibility,  is  that  the  imagination  no  longer  finding 
adequate  aliment  in  the  external  world,  turns  in  upon 
itself,  and  revolves  in  the  circle  of  its  own  creations, 
making  incredible  exertions  to  combat  the  weight  of 
thought  and  the  pressure  of  despondency.  Fleeting 
from  abstraction  to  abstraction,  from  chimera  to 
chimera,  it  ends  with  that  fancy  so  often  repeated  by 
Rousseau,  "  Naught  beautiful  save  what  is  not  so." 
But  the  original  impulse  to  such  fantasies  is  always 
found  in  a  remarkably  susceptible  nervous  system,  in 
an  inordinate  and  ever  excited  sensibility.  In  this 
way  we  ascend  from  effects  to  the  law  that  explains 
them.  Whoever  takes  a  different  course,  deserts  the 
path  of  observation  and  reality  to  wade  in  the  vast 
region  of  hypothesis.  The  most  ultra  asserters  of 
the  innate  powers  of  spirit,  have  been  often  brought 
back  to  it  in  spite  of  themselves.  Pascal  said  with 
great  good  sense :  "  Let  us  not  mistake,  we  are  as 
truly  body  as  spirit."  Do  you  not  in  a  manner  admit 
it  yourself,  my  divine  Plato,  when  you  declare  that 
every  pain  and  every  pleasure  has,  so  to  speak,  a 
nail  with  which  it  fastens  the  soul  to  the  body,  ren- 
ders it  like  itself,  and  persuades  it  that  there  is  noth- 
ing true  but  what  the  body  tells  it  ?  (The  Phaedo^) 
Nature  has  then  wisely  ordained  that  the  harmonious 
play  of  our  sensations  should  be  successfully  called 
out  in  gradations  of  activity,  of  different  force,  and 
style ;  that  our  desires,  our  emotions,  our  passions 
should  be  developed  in  proportion  to  that  activity ; 
but  she  at  the  same  time  admonishes  us  by  the  feel- 


ON    THE    LAWS    OF    NATURE.  305 

ing  of  weakness  and  disgust,  that  it  is  folly  to  crave 
superhuman  impressions  in  connection  with  actual 
organic  weakness,  and  demand  from  life  more  than 
life  can  give.  She  seems  to  say  to  us  with  a  certain 
philosopher:  '  Thou  are  but  a  limited  creature  de- 
siring a  perfection  thou  canst  not  attain.  Do  not 
waste  thy  strength  in  vain  endeavors ;  obey  my  laws 
and  follow  out  the  career  appointed  thee ;  in  the 
beyond  thou  shalt  find  that  abundant  well-spring  of 
delight,  which  can  alone  satisfy  thy  thirst.' 

EFFECTS  OF  THIS  LAW  ON  THE  SPECIAL 
ACTIVITY  OF  THE  INTELLECT. 

"In  stating  the  general  laws  of  the  sensibility,  I  ob- 
served that  among  the  first  of  these  was  the  tendency 
to  concentrate  itself  upon  a  particular  point  of  the 
organism,  when  that  point  was  unduly  excited.  The 
states  of  health  and  disease,  the  physical  and  moral 
condition  furnish  a  multitude  of  illustrations  of  this 
great  law.  This  demonstrates  that  physiology,  path- 
ology, and  psychology  are  connected  together  by 
phenomena  substantially  the  same,  because  they  all 
coalesce  in  one  direction  in  the  sensitive  unity. 
Stimulate  a  single  point  in  the  organism  strongly, 
and  all  the  movements  of  the  system  at  once  gravi- 
tate to  it,  because  there  is  an  undeniable  sympathy 
between  all  the  organs.  In  the  same  way,  also,  let  a 
person  be  intensely  pre-occupied  with  one  idea,  and 
the  energies  of  the  understanding  will  immediately 
take  that  direction.  Around  that  fixed  idea  all 
others  will  group.  If  in  the  physiological  or  patho- 

20 


306  THE    LAW. 

logical  state,  this  law  is  seen  to  assume  many  degrees 
of  development,  we  may  likewise  observe  gradations 
in  the  concentration  of  conscious  emotion.  Follow- 
ing an  ascending  scale,  we  find  attention,  reflection, 
meditation,  contemplation,  and  finally  ecstacy — or 
raptus  animi  extra  sensus,  an  elevation  of  the  mind 
beyond  the  senses.  At  this  point,  the  sensibility 
abandons,  so  to  speak,  the  external  organs  and  the 
body  so  closely  with  the  moral  being,  that  there  re- 
sults a  purely  pathological  state.  The  coldness  of 
the  extremities,  the  paleness  of  the  skin,  a  general 
trembling,  spasms,  or  the  convulsive  rigidity  of  the 
muscles  are  its  symptoms,  and  indicate  its  several 
stages.  It  should  be  remembered,  that  in  this  facul- 
ty of  concentration  is  involved  the  power  of  abstrac- 
tion, a  characteristic  of  human  intelligence ;  man 
owes  to  it,  of  course,  his  superiority  to  the  brute. 
Further,  it  is  precisely  the  power  of  attention  and 
depth  of  contemplation,  which  place  certain  men  on 
a  level  superior  to  others.  Has  it  not  been  asserted 
that  genius  is  nothing  more  than  the  capacity  of  at- 
tention ?  Has  it  not  been  compared  to  a  burning 
mirror,  the  focus  of  which  illumines  with  intensity 
but  a  single  object?  In  truth,  the  more  earnest  the 
attention — that  gaze  of  the  mind — the  more  vigor- 
ous and  sprightly  will  be  the  imagination.  Our 
power  is  commensurate  with  our  intelligence;  and 
the  intelligence  is  equal  to  the  force  of  concentration. 
If  man,  the  frail  creature  of  a  day,  has  been  able  to 
measure  the  heavens,  calculate  the  mass  of  the. 
heavenly  bodies,  seize  the  thunderbolt  in  the  cloud, 
and  subdue  the  ocean  ;  if  by  the  aid  of  the  telescope 


ON    THE   LAWS   OF   NATURE.  307 

and  microscope  he  has  been  able  to  reach  two  infini- 
ties ;  if  it  has  been  given  to  him  to  wrest  from  nature 
some  of  her  secrets ;  to  establish  sciences  ;  to  assign 
to  motion  its  laws ;  to  the  universe  its  progress ;  to 
determine  the  limits  and  origin  of  reason,  beyond 
contradiction  he  owes  it  to  this  faculty.  According 
to  Avicenna,  the  Arabian  physician,  all  things  obey 
the  human  soul  when  elevated  to  the  ecstatic  state. 
The  meaning  of  this  oracular  statement  is  now  un- 
derstood. The  fertility  of  invention,  the  creative 
energy  of  the  fine  arts,  the  elevation  and  compass  of 
thought,  power  of  execution,  the  magnificent  gift  by 
which  life  is  imparted  to  marble,  bronze,  and  to  the 
canvas  are  entirely  due  to  the  concentration,  to  exal- 
tation of  mind,  to  that  ecstatic  intuition  in  which  the 
body  no  longer  exists.  It  is,  so  to  speak,  to  pass 
during  this  life  from  the  sphere  of  gross  matter  to 
that  of  essences.  The  essential  point  is  to  have  that 
strength  of  brain  which  renders  one  capable  of 
grasping  and  holding  under  a  single  point  of  view, 
the  objects,  with  which  the  mind  is  occupied,  in  order 
to  consider  it  in  its  parts  and  in  its  totality,  to  ex- 
amine it  closely,  to  control  it  at  will  and  become 
master  of  it.  A  truth  well  known  is  but  the  copy 
and  production  of  a  model  long  since  elaborated  in 
the  intellect  of  a  man  of  genius.  There  is  a  type 
pre-existing  in  the  soul  of  the  poet  and  artist,  which 
comes  to  light  only  under  the  fire  of  thought.  The 
pencil,  the  pen,  the  chisel,  and  the  burin  are  but  in- 
struments employed  to  bring  out  what  has  been  first 
contemplated  and  finished  in  the  lofty  region  of  the 
intellect.  Before  calling  their  aid,  the  inner  genius 


308  THE    LAW. 

has  already  realized  the  ideal,  that  is,  what  no  one 
has  before  seen  and  conceived. 

"  To  recapitulate  ;  the  sensibility  is  the  distinguish- 
ing characteristic  of  bodies  which  are  organized,  liv- 
ing and  animate;  it  attains  its  maximum  of  activity 
in  man  ;  it  exists,  acts,  and  lives  only  in  and  by  itself; 
in  a  word,  the  sensibility  is  the  stuff  of  which  life  is 
made.  Meanwhile,  this  property  is  not  merely  the 
prime  mover  in  organic  action ;  by  means  of  sensa- 
tions and  consciousness,  it  is  the  source  of  our  pleas- 
ures and  our  pains  ;  it  influences  the  character,  the  in- 
clinations and  the  will — the  warmth  and  coolness  of 
the  imagination,  the  violence  or  moderation  of  desire, 
the  activity  or  sluggishness  of  the  intellect.  Con- 
sidered physiologically,  we  may  say,  that  man  is  what 
the  sensibility  makes  him.  This  function  or  property 
is  so  important,  so  necessary,  so  radical,  that  the 
philosophers  had  made  of  it  a  special  soul — the  sen- 
sitive soul.  Bacon  distinguishes  the  science  of  the 
soul,  into  that  of  the  divine  breath,  whence  the 
rational  soul  was  derived,  and  into  the  science  of  the 
irrational  soul,  which  is  common  to  us  with  the 
brutes,  and  is  regarded  as  the  product  of  the  dust  of 
the  earth.  According  to  Plato  in  Timaeus,  'the  gods 
having  taken  the  principle  of  an  immortal  soul, 
created  a  mortal  body  within  which  to  place  it ;  but 
they  joined  to  it  a  mortal  soul  subject  to  the  passions 
by  the  necessity  of  its  nature.' " 

As  men  are  differently  organized,  so  do  they  differ 
in  the  emotive  principle,  according  to  the  sensibility 
of  the  nervous  system  through  which  impressions  are 
conveyed  to  the  cognizable,  and  again  reflected  in 


ON    THE    LAWS    OF    NATURE.  309 

the  form  of  actions  of  which  we  judge  as  to  whether 
they  are  in  harmony  with  the  general  or  special  laws 
of  nature  and  with  the  laws  established  by  man. 


CHAPTER   XX. 

THE   LAWS  OF  PHYSIOLOGY  THE   ONLY  RELIABLE  START- 
ING-POINT FOR  THE    ENACTMENT 
OF  HUMAN  LAWS. 

Whatever  may  be  the  theory  of  men,  or  however 
many  different  stand-points  may  be  assumed,  outside 
of  the  laws  of  physiology,  in  reasoning  and  deducing 
proper  data,  from  whence  to  start  in  the  construction 
of  governmental  laws,  it  will  be  found,  after  a  tho- 
rough investigation,  that  physiology  is  the  only  science 
which  points  out  to  men  the  right  direction.  Any 
law  enacted  by  man  which  disagrees  with  the  laws  of 
physiology, — which  are  also  the  laws  of  nature,— 
can  not  stand,  and  men  will  not  obey  it. 

Every  thing  in  the  universe  contributes  to  man's 
happiness,  when  in  its  proper  relation.  The  starting- 
point  of  all  human  action  is  in  the  physical.  Even 
the  very  thought,  to  have  an  existence  at  all,  must  be 
associated  with  some  existing  thing.  To  convince 
any  one  of  the  truth  of  this  statement,  let  it  be  put 
to  a  test.  Any  person  can  make  the  experiment. 
You  have  only  to  endeavor  to  think  of  something 
that  does  not  exist,  or  to  form  a  definite  conception 
of  an  object  of  which  you  know  nothing, — which  has 
not  been  presented  to  your  understanding  through 
the  nerves  of  sense, — and  you  will  find  it  an  impossi- 
bility. Now,  if  even  thought  is  dependent  on  the 

310 


THE    LAWS    OF    PHYSIOLOGY.  31 1 

objective  world  for  its  support,  may  it  not  be  reason- 
able to  conclude  that  the  moral  nature  of  man  is  also 
indebted  to  the  exterior  world  for  its  existence? 
There  can  be  no  action  unless  some  feeling;  of  con- 

o 

sciousness  is  aroused  which  is  either  pleasant  or 
unpleasant  to  our  sensitive  nature.  Whatever  we 
learn,  or  whatever  we  do,  the  ultimate  object  of  all  is 
a  happy  physical  existence.  In  this  we  are  often 
disappointed ;  yet  we  have  a  peculiar  nature,  which 
enables  us  to  try  again.  In  the  study  of  physiology, 
we  learn  the  road  to  physical  perfection  ;  and  I  claim, 
as  we  approximate  to  physical  perfection,  we  are  also 
approaching  moral  and  spiritual  perfection  ;  for  the 
spiritual  of  man  is  so  intimately  connected  with  the 
corporal  that  it  is  impossible  to  separate  the  two.  I 
affirm,therefore,  that  all  successful  legislation  must  first 
agree  with  the  laws  of  physiology ;  and  I  may  further 
affirm  that  there  never  was  a  moral  code  of  law  given 
by  Divine  revelation, — in  the  last  dispensation,  at 
least, — that  may  not  be  harmonized  with  the  same 
laws.  For  example,  take  the  ten  commandments. 
Each  is  most  positively  sustained  by  the  teachings  of 
physiology.  But  some  one  asks  the  question,  "  How 
does  physiology  teach  that  we  shall  worship  only  one 
God — the  ever-living  God  of  the  universe?"  "Thou 
shalt  have  none  other  Gods  before  me."  The  theo- 
logical as  well  as  the  scientific  version  of  this  com- 
mand is  that  God  is  omnipresent, — that  he  pervades 
the  universe ;  and  hence,  to  form  an  idea  of  a  God 
consisting  of  a  single  substance — a  single  object — is 
physiologically  dangerous ;  for  when  the  mind  be- 
comes intensely  occupied  in  the  pursuit  of  a  single 


312  THE    LAW. 

object,  or  study,  the  faculty  through  which  such  exer- 
cise is  carried  on  becomes  unnaturally  developed,  and 
an  unbalanced  condition  among  all  the  faculties  is 
thus  created.  Such  a  person  is  in  danger  of  becom- 
ing deranged.  For  example,  consider  the  miser, 
whose  sole  aim  in  life  is  to  hoard  up  money.  In 
time  he  becomes  a  monomaniac.  The  faculty  of 
acquisitiveness  has  been  fostered  to  such  an  excess 
that  every  thing  in  life  appears  subordinate  to  riches. 
Such  a  course  is  forbidden,  by  the  command  of  God 
which  we  have  quoted.  It  is  worshiping  a  false  god 
instead  of  the  true  God  of  the  universe.  It  is  like- 
wise forbidden  by  the  teachings  of  physiology,  for  it 
is  not  reasonable  to  suppose  that  God  would  give  a 
command  for  the  government  of  man,  and  then  create 
fixed  laws  in  nature  that  do  not  harmonize  with  it. 
It  is  a  law  of  the  body  that  a  mixed  diet  is  necessary, 
in  order  to  supply  the  various  ingredients  of  which 
it  is  composed.  This  has  been  ascertained  by 
persons  making  the  experiment  of  trying  to  live  on 
a  single  article  of  diet.  Animals  have  been  fed  for 
months  on  a  single  substance  of  food,  and  it  has  been 
found  that  such  animals  soon  lose  that  natural  integ- 
rity necessary  to  health,  become  demented,  emaciated, 
and,  if  the  process  is  continued,  soon  die.  A  great 
number  of  different  substances  enter  into  a  chemical 
combination  to  form  a  healthy  body.  Everything  in 
the  surrounding  universe  contributes  to  man's  wel- 
fare. Let  him  have  a  Separate  God, — living  on  a 
single  article  of  diet, — and  he  will  waste  away  and 
die.  God  is  in  one  sense  a  "  wrathful  God,"  for  his 
laws  are  immutable,  and  ever  require  obedience  to 


THE    LAWS    OF    PHYSIOLOGY.  313 

their  mandates.  As  it  is  with  the  laws  of  the  body 
so  is  it  with  the  laws  of  the  mind.  For  any  one  to 
pursue  persistently  a  single  study,  without  investiga- 
ting collateral  ones ;  to  foster  passions  which  are  al- 
ready in  excess ;  or  to  cultivate  a  single  faculty,  or 
even  a  group  of  faculties,  to  the  exclusion  of  the 
rest,  will  so  unbalance  the  nature,  if  not  corrected, 
that  destruction  is  imminent.  A  variety  of  studies, 
and  pursuits,  embracing  the  whole  of  our  surround- 
ings, is  the  only  safe  course  in  life  to  insure  a  healthy 
condition  of  mind  and  body.  Thus  physiology,  as 
well  as  Divine  revelation,  declares  that  we  are  not  to 
worship  any  god  save  the  God  of  the  Universe.  In 
like  manner  each  and  every  law  of  physiology  will, 
when  investigated,  be  found  to  agree  with  the  com- 
mands of  God,  and  I  am  justifiable  in  making  the 
statement  that  they  all  aim  to  render  man  happy 
during  his  physical  existence,  as  well  as  to  point  him 
to  a  glorious  future. 

In  this  connection,  it  may  be  well  to  state  a  few 
familiar  facts  which  will  serve  to  impress 

ON    THE    MIND 

the  observance  of  such  regulation  of  habits  of  body 
and  mind  as  will  enable  the  man  of  letters,  as  well  as 
all  others,  to  maintain  a  degree  of  health  and  vigor 
that  will  tend  to  subserve  the  higher  purposes  of  life. 
Where  is  the  artist,  savan,  statesman,  administrator, 
etc.,  who  will  not  assent  frankly  to  the  truth  that 
they  are  now  victims  to  their  negligence  in  regard  to 
sedentary  habits?  The  multiplicity  of  business  af- 


314  THE    LAW. 

fairs,  the  want  of  method  in  working,  the  idea  that 
they  have  not  exceeded  certain  bounds,  and  that  a 
little  exercise  will  be  sufficient ;  the  secret  hope  that 
they  will  be  strong  enough  to  resist  leads  them  on, 
until  at  last  nature  admonishes  them,  by  some  aie- 
ment  more  or  less  severe,  that  they  must  change  their 
course  of  life.  Is  there  any  more  certain  means  of 
producing  a  multitude  of  diseases  than  to  keep  the 
mind  constantly  employed  and  the  body  inactive  ? 
The  blood  was  made  to  circulate  and  the  members  to 
be  exercised :  life  and  action  are  almost  synonymous 
terms.  Tycho  Brahe  had  a  house  erected  with  a 
high  tower,  upon  the  Island  of  Huen,  in^Denmark. 
This  retreat  he  called  Urainsbiirgh.  Here  he  lived 
twenty-one  years,  scarcely  ever  going  from  home,  and 
laboring  assiduously  upon  his  astronomical  observa- 
tions. It  was  probably  in  this  way  that  he  contracted 
the  disease  of  the  bladder  of  which  he  died.  How 
many  analogous  examples  could  be  cited.  We  live 
upon  food  and  air,  but  we  require  food  only  at  cer- 
tain intervals,'  while  we  need  air  at  every  respiration. 
The  principles  of  life  which  we  extract  from  the 
latter  must,  then,  be  constantly  renewed.  Now, 
when  the  atmosphere  is  heavy,  dense,  mephitic,  un- 
changed, it  is  evident  that  instead  of  rectifying  the 
blood  by  respiration,  we  corrupt  it  deeply,  and  there 
is  no  more  abundant  source  of  disease  than  this.  Its 
effects  are  more  particularly  apparent  in  large  cities. 
I  am  aware  that  the  progress  of  civilization  has 
diminished  the  evil,  but  not  so  much  as  is  generally 
believed,  especially  for  men  devoted  to  the  labors  of 
thought.  One  should  guard  against  judging  by 


THE    LAWS   OF    PHYSIOLOGY.  315 

those  upon  whom  fortune  has  lavished  her  gifts. 
There  is  now  more  than  one  poet  singing  of  the 
beauties  of  nature  and  the  delights  of  the  country 
who  habitually  breathes  only  the  unhealthy  air  of 
the  obscure  street  where  he  resides ;  and  many  an 
artist  has  painted  Aurora  opening  with  her  rosy 

>  fingers  the  golden  gates  of  the  Orient,  who  never  saw 
the  sun  rise.  Savans  may  also  be  found  in  smoky 
laboratories  and  narrow  cabinets,  who  are  busied  with 
experiments  upon  the  purity  and  salubrity  of  the  air. 
All,  however,  with  but  few  exceptions,  complaining  of 
the  bad  state  of  their  health.  If  you  induce  them 
to  consider  the  cause,  then  come  objections  and  diffi- 
culties without  end.  The  celebrated  Hellenish  Dansse 
de  Villoison  labored  upon  Greek  fifteen  hours  a  day. 
La  Harpe  having  asked  him  what  his  relaxations 
were,  he  replied  that  when  his  brain  was  fatigued,  he 
went  to  the  window  a  short  time.  He  resided  in 
Rue  de  Saint  Jean  de  Beauyois,  one  of  the  most 
remote  and  dirty  streets  of  Paris,  especially  at  that 
epoch. 

-  Let  us  bear  in  mind  constantly,  that  pure  air  is  an 
indispensable  to  man  as  a  bright  sun  is  to  vegetation. 

PROLONGED    AND    REPEATED    WATCH- 
FULNESS. 

Leibnitz  sometimes  passed  three  consecutive  days 
and  nights  in  the  same  chair,  resolving  a  problem 
that  interested  him ;  an  excellent  custom,  as  Fonte- 
nelle  observes,  to  accomplish  a  labor,  but  a  very  un- 
healthy one.  The  Abbe  de  La  Caille,  a  famous  as- 


3l6  THE    LAW. 

tronomer,  had  a  fork  invented  in  which  he  adjusted 
his  head,  and  in  this  position  passed  the  night  in 
astronomical  observations,  without  knowing,  as  a  man 
of  wit  observes,  any  other  enemies  than  sleep  and' 
the  clouds,  without  suspecting  that  there  could  be 
any  more  delightful  way  of  employing  these  silent 
hours  which  revealed  to  him  the  harmony  of  the 
universe.  Thus  he  contracted  an  inflammation  of 
the  lungs  which  carried  him  off  in  a  short  time. 
Girsdet  did  not  like  to  labor  during  the  day.  Seized 
in  the  middle  of  the  night  by  a  fever  of  inspiration, 
he  arose,  lit  the  chandelier  suspended  in  his  studio, 
placed  upon  his  head  an  enormous  hat  covered  with 
candles,  and,  in  this  strange  costume,  painted  for 
hours.  No  one  ever  had  a  feebler  constitution,  or  a 
more  disordered  state  of  health  than  Girsdet. 

Man,  and  especially  enlightened  man,  is,  of  all 
animals,  the  one  most  subject  to  disease.  What 
must  this  predisposition  be  in  men  who  have  in  them 
the  active  and  progressive  principle  of  civilization  ? 
All  that  affects  the  social  man  re-acts  upon  his  physi- 
cal and  moral  constitution  with  an  energy  almost 
always  prejudicial  to  his  health  and  well-being. 

A  delicate  organization,  extreme  sensibility,  habit- 
ual excess  of  the  same  sensibility,  a  vivid  imagina- 
tion, the  functions  of  the  brain  in  continual  action, 
negligence  and  forgetfulness  of  the  proper  means  to 
preserve  the  health ;  what  a  number  of  means  to 
weaken  the  springs  of  the  economy,  to  undermine  its 
strength,  to  render  the  body  languishing,  sickly,  ex- 
posed to  the  attacks  of  morbific  agents,  and  to  make 
of. life  a  fever,  an  agony  of  perpetual  strife!  All 


THE    LAWS    OF    PHYSIOLOGY.  317 

diseases,  then,  to  which  the  human  kind  are  subject 
may  manifest  themselves  among  men  whose  labors  of 
the  intellect  are  excessive. 

We  lay  this  down  as  an  incontrovertible  truth  for 
this  reason :  that  the  elements  which  form  their  con- 
stitution, their  being,  their  proclivities,  are  also  the 
sources  of  a  host  of  diseases ;  irritability  being  the 
primitive  element  of  inflammation,  as  well  as  of  the 
nervous  affections.  However,  as  every  temperament 
has  a  special  tendency  to  some  particular  class  of 
diseases,  it  will  be  observed  that  among  studious  and 
meditative  men,  certain  pathological  affections  are 
more  frequent  than  others.  Let  us  now  consider  the 
morbid  effects  of  a  prolonged  application  of  the 
mind,  without  flattering  ourselves  in  the  meantime, 
that  we  can  traverse  the  entire  circle  of  so  many 
miseries. 

In  following  the  order  of  the^  organs  as  closely  as 
possible,  we  find  in  the  first  class, 

AFFECTIONS  OF  THE  BRAIN. 

As  I  have  already  remarked,  their  shades  of  differ- 
ence are  infinite.  Sometimes  the  disease  is  rapid  in 
its  course,  as  in  inflammations  and  cerebral  fevers  ; 
at  times  the  stupifying  influence  of  prolonged  study 
produces  diseases  which  are  slow  in  their  develop- 
ment. Apoplexy  itself,  which  destroys  so  many 
thinkers,  presents  these  various  phases.  Before  the 
victim  is  stricken  down,  how  many  times  has  the 
brain  been  excited  and  overstrained?  how  many 
rushes  of  blood  to  the  head,  flushes  of  heat  in  the 


318  THE   LAW. 

face,  dull  pains,  sudden  vertigo,  accelerated  arterial 
pulsation,  uneasy  slumber,  have  plainly  indicated  a 
sanguine  repletion,  a  cerebral  excitement  above  the 
normal  degree!  But  these  symptoms  are  dissipated 
and  forgotten ;  again  they  return,  and  the  delicate 
structure  of  the  brain  is  irremediably  injured,  often 
in  the  very  commencement  of  the  career.  "  I  will 
begin  to  die  at  the  head,"  said  Swift,  and  he  was  in 
fact  attacked  by  a  species  of  mental  alienation.  La 
Bonyere  died  of  apoplexy  at  the  age  of  fifty-two,  on 
the  loth  of  May,  1696. 

Habit,  enthusiasm  for  a  labor,  the  desire  for  cele- 
brity, entices  the  thinker  beyond  the  limits  prescribed 
by  reason.  On  the  i8th  of  July,  1374,  Petrarch  was 
found  in  his  library  dead  from  apoplexy,  with  his 
head  lying  upon  a  book.  Copernicus,  Malpighi,  La 
Clerc  du  Fremblay,  known  in  history  under  the  name 
of  P.  Joseph,  Richardson,  Linnaeus,  Marmontel, 
Rousseau,  Daubenton,  Spallanzani,  Monge,  Carbanis, 
Corvisart,  Walter  Scott,  and  many  other  celebrated 
men  have  been  struck  with  apoplexy.  Napoleon, 
who  dreaded  apoplexy,  asked  Corvisart,  his  first  physi- 
cian, one  day,  what  positive  ideas  he  had  of  this  dis- 
ease. "  Sire,"  answered  the  physician, "  apoplexy  is 
always  dangerous,  but  it  has  premonitory  symptoms; 
nature  very  rarely  strikes  without  giving  warning. 
The  first  attack,  nearly  always  light,  is  a  summons 
without  costs ;  the  second  much  more  severe,  is  a 
summons  with  costs ;  and  a  third,  is  a  death  warrant? 
Corvisart  himself  was  a  melancholy  illustration  ot 
the  truth  of  his  theory.  The  gradual  action  of  the 
causes  of  this  disease,  may  be  explained  in  the  fol- 


THE   LA.WS   OF    PHYSIOLOGY.  319 

lowing  manner:  The  permanent  excitement  of  the 
brain  augments  its  activity.  This  excessive  activity 
often  repeated,  gives  rise  each  time  to  an  afflux  of 
blood  into  this  organ ;  the  stimulation  then  becomes 
congestional. 

The  misanthropy  of  which  I  have  just  spoken 
leads  insensibly 

TO    HYPOCHONDRIA. 

It  cannot  be  doubted  that  the  seat  of  this  affection 
is  in  the  brain,  or  in  the  abdomen  ;  hence,  it  is  always 
characterized  by  a  great  activity  of  the  nervous  sys- 
tem— it  is  the  distinctive  trait  of  this  disease.  In 
the  physical  sense,  a  feeling  of  perfect  health  and 
comfort  will  be  succeeded  suddenly  by  some  unac- 
countable distress,  some  imaginary  pain.  The  same 
inconstancy  and  instability  is  observable  in  the  moral 
sense  also.  A  mind  and  a  disposition  always  chang- 
ing. The  vigorous  play  of  a  strong  intellect,  and  a 
puerile  weakness  ;  flashes  of  the  brightest  reason  and 
inconceivable  littleness;  generous  thoughts  and  traits 
of  a  strong  egotism;  a  soul  with  heavenly  aspira- 
tions or  groveling  in  the  commonest  sphere  ;  mo- 
ments of  wild  enthusiasm,  then  of  frightful  depres- 
sions; strong  attachment  of  the  heart,  then  cruel 
doubts ;  a  deep  disgust  of  praise  and  of  all  that  ap- 
peared sublime  to  them;  a  sad  feeling  destroying  all 
bright  illusions,  all  pleasures ;  such  are  the  singular 
contradictions  which  characterize  the  hypochondriac  ; 
and  this  incredible  change  of  the  feelings  often  oc- 
curs suddenly,  because  the  normal  physiological  state 


320  THE    LAW. 

has  ceased  to  exist.  Joyous  and  confiding,  sad  and 
suspicious,  a  fool  or  a  man  of  wit,  a  Socrates  or  a 
madman,  the  victim  seems  to  be  transformed  every 
moment.  This  is  not  to  be  wondered  at ;  all  these 
variations  of  mind  and  character,  proceed  evidently 
from  morbid  nervous  sensibility,  of  which  I  have  so 
often  spoken.  The  entire  economy  is  disturbed  by 
the  slightest  cause,  by  the  most  fleeting  impression. 
It  will  be  seen  that  sad  affections  predominate  always 
in  hypochondria.  I  have  known  a  hypochondriac 
who  lived  in  perpetual  fear  of  a  comet  striking  the 
earth.  Men  of  genius  are  often  victims  of  incurable 
hypochondria,  which  throws  a  lugubrious  pall  over 
their  lives  and  their  works.  Lichtenberg,  who  was 
attacked  by  this  pathological  disease,  makes  this  re- 
mark, "  My  hypochondria,"  said  he,  "  is,  properly 
speaking,  the  faculty  of  extracting,  for  my  own  use, 
the  greatest  possible  quantity  of  poison  from  every 
event  of  life.  I  am  often  grievously  tormented  be- 
cause I  have  not  sneezed  three  times  in  succession 
for  twenty  years.  Pusillanimity  is  the  true  name  for 
my  malady ;  but  how  can  I  cure  it  ?  Ah,  if  I  could 
once  pluck  up  the  resolution  to  be  well !"  There  is 
much  sense  in  these  light  words.  As  it  has  been  re- 
marked, if  one  could  see  the  puerilities  which  traverse 
the  brain  of  the  brightest  genius  at  the  time  when  it 
performs  its  greatest  work,  one  would  be  seized  with 
astonishment.  The  case  is  different  when  there  is  a 
morbific  cause  continually  acting  upon  the  brain. 

Since  I  have  already  noticed  the  causes  of  this 
affection,  it  will  be  unnecessary  to  recur  to  them.  I 
will  merely  repeat  that  it  is  almost  always  character- 


THE    LAWS    OF    PHYSIOLOGY.  321 

ized  by  one  fixed  idea,  which  ordinarily  takes  abso- 
lute possession  of  the  soul.  The  sentient  principle, 
pursuing  this  ruling  thought,  to  its  farthest  limits, 
leads  inevitably  to  the  marvelous,  to  the  incompre- 
hensible, to  the  agri  somnia,  or  to  the  pure  truth,  to 
the  discovery  of  a  fundamental  law.  In  both  cases 
two  things  happen,  and  these  tend  equally  to  melan- 
choly. This  strength  and  continuity  of  attention 
which  belongs  to  superior  talent,  fatigues  and  destroys 
the  springs  of  the  economy ;  and  the  soul  transported 
into  the  lofty  regions  of  the  intellect,  separates  itself 
as  much  as  possible  from  the  flesh  and  blood.  To 
free  the  bonds  of  the  probable,  to  enjoy  all  its  spirit- 
uality, it  quickly  attains  the  limits  of  humanity,  and 
descends  afterwards  unwillingly  to  material  interests, 
often  after  having  broken  the  fragile  organ  of  good 
sense.  Ah !  rest  assured  that  this  intellectual  superi- 
ority is  inevitably  accompanied  by  melancholy,  and, 
as  an  almost  immediate  consequence,  by  several 
maladies  more  or  less  severe,  and  nearly  always 
chronic.  The  age,  the  kind  of  work,  the  social  posi- 
tion, or  exterior  influences,  determines  the  kind  and 
the  form  of  these  maladies,  Melancholy  never  loses 
sight  of  its  favorite  idea,  misfortune.  It  places  itself 
face  to  face  with  its  trouble  ;  it  irritates  the  wound, 
increases  it,  exhausts  all  the  cutting  pleasures  of 
grief;  it  takes  delight  in  the langour into  which  they 
plunge  it. 

SOME    DEGREES    FURTHER, 

and  we  reach  the  point  when  the  personal  identity  is 

21 


322  THE    LAW. 

lost, — where  there  is  a  discord  between  internal  per- 
ceptions and  exterior  impression.  The  despotism  of 
one  idea,  deeply  rooted  in  the  imagination,  absorbs 
all  other  thoughts,  or  at  least  destroys  their  harmony. 
The  perpetual  irritation  of  the  brain  unhinges  the 
intellect  while  it  stimulates  it. 

Hence,  arise  illusions,  hallucinations,  phantoms, 
deceptive  images,  which  delude  the  minds  of  these 
unfortunate  beings.  When  the  empire  of  the  facul- 
ties is  overthrown,  they  create  a  realm  in  which  they 
reign  supreme,  and  are  sometimes  happy  in  this  im- 
aginary world.  But  this  cruel  happiness  is  denied 
intelligent  and  reflective  men  who  are  attacked  by 
this  malady.  Notwithstanding  this  indefinite  pro- 
longing of  one  idea  which  happens  in  monomania, 
there  is  nearly  always  a  depth  of  reason,  accom- 
panied by  memories  and  regrets,  which  unite  in  form- 
ing their  torment.  Delirium  exists,  but  it  is  general- 
ly incomplete  ;  the  victim  has  a  consciousness  of  the 
disorder  of  his  mind,  and  at  the  same  time  feels  his 
powerlessness  to  restore  its  harmony.  Is  not  this  the 
acme  of  human  misery  ?  It  was  thus  that  Pascal 
saw  an  abyss  ever  yawning  beside  him,  and  that 
Tasso  heard  voices  whispering  his  own  thoughts. 

This  is  what  the  great  man  wrote  to  his  friend 
Cataneo,  in  regard  to  his  malady :  "  When  I  am 
awake,  I  see  fires  burning  in  the  air  and  sparks  issu- 
ing from  my  eyes,  which  become  so  inflamed  that  at 
times  I  have  fears  of  losing  my  sight.  At  other 
times  I  hear  terrible  noises,  whistling,  the  tinkling  of 
bells,  a  sound  like  a  clock  ticking  or  striking  the 
hour.  While  sleeping,  I  imagine  that  a  horse  is 


THE   LAWS   OF    PHYSIOLOGY.  323 

about  to  trample  me  under  foot,  or  that  I  am  covered 
with  unclean  and  repulsive  vermin.  All  my  joints 
are  full  of  pain,  and  my  head  is  heavy.  In  the  midst 
of  so  many  pains  and  fears,  sometimes  the  image  of 
the  Virgin,  beautiful  and  young,  appears  to  me  with 
her  son,  surrounded  by  a  halo  of  colored  vapors  ; 
sometimes  it  is  a  foolish  sprite,  which  torments  me 
and  pursues  me  in  a  thousand  ways."  Unhappy 
poet !  how  wearisome  !  what  miseries !  Oh !  who 
would  desire  glory  at  such  a  price?  Who  would 
covet  this  crown  of  thorns  which  encircles  the  heads 
of  those  who  are  called  the  kings  of  thought  ?  We 
will  extend  no  further  this  rapid  survey  of  the  dis- 
eases peculiar,  so  to  speak,  to  the  temperament  and 
habits  of  thinkers.  Our  intention  has  been  to  notice 
only  the  principal  ones,  for  there  are  a  great  many 
affections  classed  among  the  indispositions  which 
daily  attack  those  whose  intellects  are  ever  active ; 
such  as  megrims,  pain  and  heaviness  in  the  head, 
hemorrhoids,  partial  paralysis,  spasms,  trembling,  and 
a  host  of  nervous  affections,  which  make  of  the  en- 
tire existence  a  sort  of  perpetual  disease.  It  must 
also  be  remarked  that,  without  being  sick,  it  is  felt 
that  certain  parts  are  habitually  sensitive  and  painful 
— the  chest,  in  some,  the  kidneys  in  another,  etc. 
The  Emperor  Napoleon,  having  a  very  sensitive  head, 
disliked  new  hats,  and  wore  the  same  ones  a  long 
time,  and  he  was  accustomed  to  have  them  wadded. 
This  is  the  origin  of  the  little  hat  so  famous  in  the 
history  of  this  great  man.  Independently  of  these 
morbid  affections,  there  are  many  more,  peculiar  to 
certain  classes  of  savans  or  artists. 


324  THE    LAW. 

OF  ORGANS  ESPECIALLY  AFFECTED  BY 
EXCESSIVE  LABOR. 

If  there  is  a  positive  fact  in  pathology,  it  is  that 
all  causes  capable  of  producing  irritation  and  inflam- 
mation commence  by  exciting  and  augmenting  the 
sensibility.  The  synergic  propagation  of  nervous 
irritation  is  therefore  particularly  observable  in  the 
constitution  now  under  consideration. 

It  is  then  upon  the  general  and  primitive  nervous 
system,  that  all  causes  of  disease  act.  Now,  when 
this  system  has  acquired  an  exclusive  and  unnatural 
predominance ;  when  the  economy  is  saturated  with 
sensibility,  so  to  speak,  it  is  evident  that  all  the  organs 
over  which  it  distributes  itself,  must  be  in  a  state  of 
morbid  imminence,  and  much  predisposed  to  all  path- 
ological affections.  This  is  precisely  the  case  with 
many  artists,  men  of  letters,  statesmen,  etc.,  who  de- 
liver themselves  to  the  tyrannical  infatuation  of  in- 
tellectual pursuits.  However,  there  are  certain  or- 
gans which  seem  more  exposed  to  the  action  of  these 
causes.  It  is  to  these  the  attention  should  be  directed. 

We  will  place  the  brain  and  its  accessories  in  the 
first  rank.  The  incontestible  supremacy  of  this  ap- 
paratus is  the  same  in  all  the  different  modifications 
which  the  economy  undergoes  :  it  is  always  the  prim- 
itive power  of  organic  association.  But  here  this 
superiority,  and  the  dangers  which  accompany  it,  are 
augmented  by  the  excessive  activity  to  which  the 
encephalus  is  subjected.  It  is  undoubtedly  in  the 
brain  and  its  functions  that  the  source  of  happiness 
is  to  be  found.  It  is  the  creator  of  the  ineffable 


THE    LAWS    OF    PHYSIOLOGY.  325 

pleasures,- — the  inconceivable  delight  of  these  men 
who  dwell  only  in  the  realm  of  thought.  Unhappily 
here,  too,  is  found  the  veritable  atmion  mortis,  the 
origin  of  the  evils  to  which  they  are  exposed.  Cer- 
tainly if  one  considers  the  high  importance  of  the 
functions  of  the  brain,  the  extent  of  its  relations,  the 
energy  and  diversity  of  its  sympathetic  connections, 
one  is  no  longer  astonished  at  the  number,  variety, 
and  gravity  of  the  maladies  produced  by  its  extreme 
and  prolonged  excitement.  The  integrity  of  its 
actions  forms  the  basis  of  health  ;  if  this  is  disturbed, 
all  is  thrown  into  disorder.  It  should  be  observed 
that  there  is  much  diversity  in  the  diseases  of  the 
brain.  The  shades  of  difference  are  often  impercep- 
tible, for  we  recognize  only  those  which  are  extreme. 
It  can  be  readily  conceived  that  this  prolonged  re- 
flection, this  earnest  application  of  the  mind  which 
strains  the  springs  of  thought,  absorbs  the  life,  de- 
vours it  by  fractions,  keeps  the  cerebral  forces  in  a 
continual  state  of  excitement,  must  end  in  producing 
a  general  weakness,  which  is  the  source  of  serious 
diseases.  But  it  must  be  remembered  that  these  af- 
fections are  sometimes  slow,  sometimes  rapid  in  their 
course.  Latent  irritations,  dull  inflammations,  partial 
congestions,  the  softening  of  many  points  of  the 
cerebral  substance,  often  manifest  themselves  only 
by  the  doubtful  and  equivocal  symptoms  of  a  mor- 
bid excitement.  When  the  evil  has  made  some  pro- 
gress, serious  disorders  indicate  the  cause  more  plain- 
ly; but  it  is  then  too  late  to  remedy  it.  This  is  one 
of  the  fatalities  of  the  medical  science.  The  pecu- 
liarities of  temperament,  age,  etc.,  have  an  evident 


126  THE    LAW. 

influence  in  cerebral  affections.  The  young  are  more 
liable  to  inflammation  of  the  meninges.  Old  persons 
who  have  a  tendency  to  venous  plethora,  often  ex- 
perience organic  disorders,  congestions,  ruptures  of 
blood-vessels,  softening  of  the  brain,  etc.  I  repeat, 
that  at  all  times,  pathological  affections  of  the  brain 
are  particularly  dangerous  by  reason  of  the  active, 
and  continued  excitement  of  this  viscera.  Let  us 
add  that  the  moral,  as  well  as  the  physical  sensibility, 
acquires  in  this  instance,  an  increase  of  activity.  If 
it  is  true  that  among  civilized  men  the  imagination 
increases  the  causes  and  results  of  disease  a  hundred- 
fold, what  effect  must  this  imagination  produce  in 
men  who  concentrate  their  existence  upon  the  exer- 
cise of  the  intellectual  faculties  ?  Then  one  may  ex- 
pect to  see  the  most  serious  disorders  produced  by 
very  slight  causes.  The  poet  Santenil  almost  lost 
his  reason  at  finding  an  epithet  that  he  had  sought 
for  a  long  time.  A  picture  by  Raphael  produced 
such  a  paroxysm  of  admiration  in  the  painter  Francia, 
that  he  fainted  and  died.  One  of  the  principal  effects 
of  the  continued  tension  of  the  brain,  is  to  weaken 
all  the  organs  more  or  less  immediately  depending 
upon  it,  in  depriving  them  of  a  part  of  the  nervous 
influx  necessary  for  their  exercise;  hence,  a  number 
of  maladies  more  or  less  serious, — more  or  less 
varied. 

The  stomach  is,  perhaps,  the  organ  most  exposed 
to  this  deprivation.  The  weakening  of  the  digestive 
apparatus  seems  peculiar  to  illustrious  men.  The 
opinion  of  Zacutus  Lusitanus  upon  this  subject  is 
well  known.  In  our  days,  some  have  pretended  to 


THE    LAWS    OF    PHYSIOLOGY.  327 

value  the  genius  according  to  the  state  of  the  stomach. 
While  acknowledging  the  exaggeration  of  this  asser- 
tion, we  must  agree  with  Fissot,  "  that  the  man  who 
thinks  the  most,  is  he  who  digests  the  worst,  all  other 
things  being  equal;  and  he  who  thinks  the  least,  is 
the  one  who  digests  the  best."  Take  blockheads:, 
and  ignoramuses,  and  compare  them  with  thinkers. 
The  daily  practice  of  medicine,  and  the  history  of 
celebrated  men,  furnish  superabundant  proofs  of  our 
theory.  But  why  is  the  stomach  generally  so  deli- 
cate in  deep  thinkers?  It  has  been  attributed  to  a 
sedentary  life ;  this  may  have  some  influence,  but 
only  to  a  certain  point ;  for  do  we  not  observe  some 
women  and  artisans  who  lead  a  very  sedentary  life, 
and  yet  who  digest  admirably  ?  Napoleon,  whose 
remarkable  activity  astonished  his  cotemporaries,had, 
on  the  contrary,  a  very  susceptible  and  irresistible 
stomach. 

Orators,  musicians,  actors,  anatomists,  chemists, 
physicians,  etc.,  are  exposed  to  maladies  relative  to 
their  occupation,  and  to  the  organs  most  fatigued  in 
the  exercise  of  their  profession.  The  greater  number 
of  these  affections  can  be  referred  to  the  general 
principles  I  have  already  laid  down.  As  for  the  rest, 
I  am  able  to  say,  notwithstanding  this  lugubrious 
picture  I  have  just  presented,  that  many  illustrious 
men  would  avoid  these  evils  by  habitual  sobriety, 
and  even  regain  their  constitution  if  they  knew  how 
to  stop  in  time  to  preserve  their  strength ;  if  they 
were  all  convinced  that  the  muses  are  not  always 
homicidal  sirens,  according  their  favors  only  to  those 
who  sacrifice  their  health  and  life  to  them.  But  far 


228  THE    LAW. 

from  this,  there  are  but  few  among  them  who  know 
how  to  put  bounds  to  their  labors,  their  enterprises, 
and  their  ambition.  Exhausted  and  breathless  as 
they  are  in  their  career,  they  continue  their  efforts 
and  toils. 

Weakness,  uneasiness,  sufferings  are  nothing,  pro- 
vided one  can  say  eureka.  Juste  Lisper,  like  many 
others,  labored  until  his  strength  was  entirely  ex- 
hausted. Canabis  tells  us  of  the  contempt  this  cele- 
brated man  had  for  physical  pain,  pretending  to  shake 
it  off  as  he  did  moral  pain.  At  the  opening  of  the 
states-general  he  had  the  jaundice.  He  did  nothing 
to  cure  it  He  even  settled  several  important  ques- 
tions while  the  fever  was  upon  him.  In  fine,  he 
neglected  himself  completely ;  for,  as  his  physician 
remarks,  "  this  impetuous  man  felt  himself  to  be 
immortal  at  too  many  points,  to  believe  himself  sub- 
ject to  the  common  laws  of  infirmity  and  death."  It 
is  known  that  he  died  young,  and  that  excess  of  all 
kinds  was  the  true  poison  that  killed  him.  It  must 
be  observed  that  the  more  frequent  maladies  are  in 
the  nervous  constitution,  the  more  this  constitution 
augments  in  intensity.  That  is  to  say,  the  sensitive 
strength  increases  in  activity,  while  motive  forces 
decrease.  It  is  certain  that  when  one  is  no  longer 
young  and  full  of  vigor,  after  a  long  and  serious  ill- 
ness, sensibility  becomes  more  active,  the  body  more 
impressible,  the  strength  of  vital  resistance  lessened. 
This  even  happens  to  individuals  the  most  strongly 
constituted.  It  is  generally  known  that  maladies 
nearly  always  leave  behind  them  a  remarkable  pre- 
dominance of  the  sensitive  system  over  the  motive 


THE    LAWS    OF    PHYSIOLOGY.  329 

forces,  and  that  it  increases  more  when  it  has  existed 
previously.  No  one  assuredly  ever  received  from 
nature  a  more  vigorous  body  than  this  same  Mira- 
beau,  of  whom  we  have  just  spoken.  By  the  effect 
of  diseases,  his  muscular  strength  was  reduced  to 
nothing,  as  it  were.  The  most  robust  man  became 
susceptible  of  being  moved  by  the  weakest  impres- 
sions. His  muscles  remained  always  like  those  of 
Hercules  in  volume:  his  nerves  were  almost  as  weak 
as  those  of  a  delicate  and  sensitive  woman.  Having 

o 

reached  this  point  of  weakness  and  irritability  at  the 
same  time,  it  is  easy  to  presume  what  would  become 
of  his  health  and  happiness.  A  nervous  irritation 
and  a  prostration  of  health  alternately  succeeded 
each  other.  No  function  acted  regularly,  although 
without  any  notable  pain.  Often  there  was  even  a 
species  of  interior  ardor,  of  incipient  fever,  which, 
excited,  undermines  and  destroys  the  economy. 

Efforts  may  be  made  to  re-animate  the  vital  pow- 
ers ;  but  the  progress  of  exhaustion  is  such,  the 
organs  are  so  fatigued,  the  thread  of  life  so  worn, 
that  existence  becomes  a  labor  of  each  day,  of  each 
moment. 

Yet  one  should  watch,  armed  with  redoubled  pre- 
caution, lest  a  premature  old  age,  or  frightful  diseases, 
soon  cover  the  altar  of  glory,  that  faithless  shelter 
against  attacks  of  physical  pain,  with  the  funereal 
cypress. 

In  addition  to  what  has  been  said  on  this  subject, 
we  deem  it  quite  proper  to  extend  our  remark  to  the 
study  of 

PHYSIOLOGY   OF   MAN. 


33O  THE    LAW. 

In  a  general  and  comprehensive  sense,  physiology 
is  the  science  of  the  elements,  properties,  and  phe- 
nomena of  organic  bodies  and  of  the  laws  which 
control  their  condition  and  action.  Human  physi- 
ology is  that  branch  of  medicine  which  has  for  its 
special  object  the  investigation  of  the  nature  and 
life-phenomena  of  the  various  functions  and  opera- 
tions of  the  body  while  in  a  state  of  health.  Man, 
like  other  bodies  in  nature,  is  a  collection  of  matter 
existing  in  a  separate  form. 

Though  such  an  infinite  variety  and  number  of 
forms  are  presented  to  the  senses  in  the  world  of 
matter,  it  is  a  singular  fact  that  matter  exists  only  in 
two  forms,  (generally  classified  as  organic  and  inor- 
ganic,) based  simply  on  two  distinct  constitutional 
differences.  An  inorganic  body  is  composed  of  a 
mass  of  matter  destitute  of  distinction  of  parts,  or 
one  in  which  every  fragment  retains  all  the  charac- 
teristics of  the  original  body.  A  drop  of  water  is  as 
completely  water  as  a  lake  or  an  ocean.  A  particle 
of  air  in  a  drop  of  water  possesses  all  the  character- 
istics of  the  atmosphere.  A  fragment  of  granite 
differs  not  from  the  grand  mass  that  underlies  the 
Rocky  Mountains.  The  same  is  true  of  every  frag- 
ment of  all  mineral  forms.  Hence  the  whole  mineral 
world  is  enclosed  in  inorganic  bodies.  An  organic 
body,  on  the  contrary,  is  made  up  of  distinctive  parts, 
each  one  of  which  is  essential  to  the  completeness  of 
its  existence.  A  root,  a  bud,  a  leaf,  or  a  flower  is  not 
a  plant  or  a  tree.  All,  however,  are  essential  to  the 
existence  of  the  plant  or  tree.  Wool  is  not  a  sheep ; 
yet  a  sheep  is  not  complete  without  wool,  or  a  bird 


HE    LAWS   OF    PHYSIOLOGY.  33! 

without  feathers.  The  foot  is  not  like  the  head  ;  the 
eye  like  the  ear ;  the  brain  like  bones ;  yet  all  are 
absolutely  necessary  to  complete  a  man.  Any  one 
part  marred,  mars  the  whole.  The  completeness  of 
the  whole  is  found  only  in  the  completeness  of  each 
individual  part.  Such  is  an  organic  body.  Chemical 
laws  govern  inorganic  bodies  in  all  their  changes  and 
phenomena,  generally  denominated  physical  force. 
Bat  organic  bodies,  though  molded  by  the  same  law 
of  combination,  are  also  controlled  by  an  unseen 
power  which  we  call  vital  force.  Chemical  force 
takes  hold  of  the  crude,  inorganic  material,  reduces 
it  into  infinite  minute  particles  or  atoms,  whence  the 
vital  force  collects  it,  digests  it,  and  appropriates  it  to 
the  building  of  an  organic  body.  The  chemical  con- 
stituents of  the  human  body  embrace  all  of  the 
ultimate  elements  of  the  outer  world,  such  as  Cal- 
cium, Magnesium,  Potassium,  Sodium,  Iron,  etc.,  all 
exist  in  the  body  in  a  combination  of  one  form  or 
another,  generally  denominated  proximate  principles. 
They  are  introduced  into  the  system  by  the  food  we  eat, 
the  water  we  drink,  and  the  air  we  breathe.  A  prox- 
imate principle  is  a  distinct  compound,  ready  formed 
in  animals  and  vegetables,  such  as  albumen,  fat,  sugar, 
etc.  They  are  of  inorganic  and  organic  origin. 

The  proximate  principles  of  inorganic  origin,  are 
the  first  to  present  themselves  for  investigation  ;  they 
are  derived  from  the  exterior,  are  found  everywhere, 
in  unorganized  bodies,  always  found  under  the  same 
form,  and  with  the  same  properties  in  the  interior  of 
the  animal  frame  as  elsewhere. 

They  are  crystalizable ;    they  comprise  such  sub- 


332  THE    LAW. 

stances  as  water,  chloride- of  sodium,  carbonate  and 
phosphate  of  lime,  etc. 

The  second  class  are  of  organic  origin,  crystalliz- 
able,  and  comprise  such  as  the  different  kinds  of 
sugar,  oil  and  starch. 

The  third  class  includes  such  substances  as  albu- 
men, fibrin,  casein,  etc.,  and  comprise  a  very  extensive 
and  important  order  of  proximate  principles,  strictly 
of  organic  origin,  are  not  crystallizable  and  of  a  definite 
chemical  composition.  Water,  of  the  first  class  of 
proximate  principles,  is  universally  present  in  all  the 
tissues  and  fluids  of  the  body,  comprising  about  two- 
thirds  of  the  entire  bulk,  which  must  be  regularly 
supplied,  as  the  solid  materials  are  held  by  it  in  solu- 
tion, assisting  them  to  pass  and  repass  in  the  animal 
frame.  The  system  suffers  more  rapidly  when  de- 
prived of  water,  than  when  solids  only  are  withheld ; 
hence  it  is  an  important  ingredient  of  the  food,  and 
should  be  supplied  with  constancy  and  regularity. 
Water  is  the  only  natural  drink  for  man  ;  all  other 
beverages  may  be  considered  medicated,  such  as 
coffee,  tea,  spirituous  and  malt  liquors,  which  should 
only  be  imbibed  as  a  medicine  prescribed  by  a  prop- 
erly qualified  physician. 

Milk  contains  nearly  all  of  the  principles  of  the 
body,  and  is  the  next  most  natural  drink,  holding 
many  of  the  solid  materials  of  food  in  solution,  and 
yet  not  enough  of  solid  matter  to  supply  an  adult, 
or  sufficient  water  to  supply  the  system  with  enough 
fluid  to  perform  the  functions  of  its  office,  hence 
while  milk  is  sufficient  food  and  drink  for  the  babe 
and  young  animals,  it  would  not  answer  the  purpose 


THE    LAWS    OF    PHYSIOLOGY.  333 

in  the  adult.  Water,  pure  water,  may  be  drank  freely, 
and  he  who  is  the  most  prompt  and  regular  in  sup- 
plying nature  with  such  an  indispensable  agent  to 
the  well  being  of  the  animal  economy,  certainly  en- 
joys physical  life  in  the  most  perfect  sense.  All 
other  inorganic  material,  such  as  calcareous  salts, 
alkaline,  phosphates,  etc.,  occur  naturally  in  sufficient 
quantity  in  most  of  the  articles  of  food,  except 
chloride  of  sodium,  (common  salt,)  which  is  usually 
added  to  food  and  requires  to  be  supplied  with  toler- 
able regularity.  The  proximate  principles  of  the 
second  class  are  sugar  and  oily  matters,  and  are 
derived  from  both  the  animal  and  vegetable  king- 
doms. 

Starch  is  converted  in  the  system  into  sugar,  and 
to  a  great  extent  sugar  is  converted  into  fat,  hence 
the  articles  of  food  that  contain  the  greatest  amount 
of  starch  are  the  best  to  nourish  the  body.  Sugar 
may  be  taken  in  its  purity,  as  certain  vegetables  will 
yield  it,  also  fat  and  starch,  for  the  system  craves 
and  must  have  them  in  some  form ;  yet  there  is  not 
a  single  article  of  food  yet  known  that  would  supply 
us  with  all  the  system  requires  ;  hence  a  mixed  diet 
is  necessary  if  we  would  be  healthy.  Wheat,  rye- 
meal,  oatmeal,  corn,  rice,  barley,  potatoes,  and  all 
kinds  of  fruit,  will  supply  the  system  with  the  great- 
est amount  of  this  class  of  proximate  principles. 

The  articles  of  food  that  contain  the  greatest 
quantity  of  proximate  principles  of  the  third  class, 
are  all  those  mentioned  under  the  head  of  the  second 
class,  but  in  addition  to  them,  meat  contains  the 
greatest  quantity  of  fibrin  ;  eggs,  albumen,  and  milk, 


334-  THE    LAW. 

casein.  No  article  of  food  void  of  these  principles 
will  nourish  the  body  any  length  of  time;  neither 
does  the  nutritious  character  of  any  substance,  as  an 
article  of  food,  depend  simply  upon  its  containing 
either  one  of  the  alimentary  principles  in  large  quan- 
tities, but  its  containing  them  mingled  together  in 
such  proportions  as  are  requisite  for  the  healthy 
nutrition  of  the  body.  These  proportions  are  deter- 
mined by  observation  and  experience,  and  up  to  this 
time  but  little  is  known  on  the  subject.  The  total 
quantity  of  food  required  by  man  has  been  variously 
estimated.  But  the  habits  and  constitution  of  the 
individual  must  be  taken  into  consideration,  and  the 
kind  of  articles  employed ;  as  corn,  wheat,  rye  and 
meat  contain  more  alimentary  material,  in  the  same 
bulk,  than  fresh  fruits  or  vegetables,  and  hence  the 
quantity  must  necessarily  vary.  It  has  been  ascer- 
tained, however,  that  an  extensive  diet  of  bread,  fresh 
meat  and  butter,  with  water  for  drink,  the  quantity 
of  food  required  during  twenty-four  hours  by  a  man 
in  full  health,  and  taking  free  exercise  in  the  open 
air,  is:  meat  16  oz.;  bread  19  oz.;  butter  or  fat 
3J/2  oz.;  water  52  oz.  This  is  about  2^/2  Ibs.  of  solid 
food,  and  rather  over  three  pints  of  liquid  food.  In 
selecting  the  required  quantity  of  food,  we  must  take 
into  consideration  the  digestibility  of  the  articles 
chosen ;  also  the  proper  time  and  regularity  of  intro- 
ducing them  into  the  system.  This,  however,  is  gen- 
erally best  regulated  by  the  demand  of  the  system, 
and  if  the  natural  promptings  are  obeyed,  generally 
no  violence  can  be  done,  for  nature  does  her  work 
well.  She  will  not  let  the  system  starve  nor  be  over- 


THE    LAWS   OF    PHYSIOLOGY.  335 

charged  with  food,  or  allow  even  any  thing  to  enter 
that  may  cause  a  disturbance  of  the  harmonious 
operation  of  the  bodily  organs  within. 

The  body  is  endowed  with  five  senses,  for  a  two- 
fold purpose  ;  first,  for  the  protection  and  preserva- 
tion of  the  integrity,  and  secondly,  that  through  these 
channels  the  true  man  that  dwells  within  may  gain 
an  earthly  or  material  experience.  By  the  eye  we 
behold  God's  great  and  glorious  universe,  enjoy  the 
beauties  of  nature's  garden,  and  also  behold  the 
approaching  danger.  Through  the  ear,  we  enjoy 
harmonious  sounds,  and  sweet  music ;  also  the  ap- 
proach of  danger;  this  assists  the  eye,  and  in  case  the 
eye  fails,  will  preserve  and  protect  the  body,  though 
not  so  perfectly. 

The  sense  of  touch,  taste  and  smell,  are  important 
guardian  angels  and  messengers  of  delight,  which,  if 
not  prostituted  by  violence  and  disobedience,  are  a 
correct  guide  to  health  and  happiness. 

NUTRITION 

consists  in  the  introduction  into  the  stomach  and 
intestinal  canal  of  proper  nutriment ;  its  formation 
into  blood ;  its  changes  in  the  lungs ;  the  transfor- 
mation into  tissues ;  their  re-absorption  into  blood  ; 
and  the  excretion  of  effete  matters  from  the  system. 
In  reference  to  the  first  stage,  we  must  select  such 
articles  of  food  as  contain  albuminoid,  fatty,  and  min- 
eral principles,  as  no  one  alone  is  sufficient  to  nourish 
the  body  ;  then  combine  them  so  as  to  form  tissues 
and  organs.  Regulate  the  amount  according  to  the 


336  THE    LAW. 

state  of  the  atmosphere ;  if  cold,  more  oxygen  is 
consumed ;  there  is  greater  waste,  consequently  the 
system  demands  more  food  than  if  the  air  be  warm ; 
also  in  proportion  to  the  amount  of  physical  or  men- 
tal exertion,  those  laboring  requiring  a  greater  supply 
than  those  of  sedentary  habits. 

Food,  when  taken  into  the  system,  undergoes  vari- 
ous changes  before  it  nourishes  the  body.  The 
changes  are  brought  about  by  a  set  of  organs  com- 
monly denominated  the  digestive  apparatus,  and 
before  speaking  of  the  digestive  process  proper,  it 
would  be  well  to  give  a  brief  description  of  the 
organs  immediately  concerned  in  the  work.  The 
first  in  order  is  the  mouth,  which  is  endowed  with 
three  salivary  glands  on  each  side,  a  set  of  grinders 
or  teeth,  a  tongue  and  palate.  The  throat  or  gullet 
connects  the  mouth  with  the  stomach  ;  the  second 
department,  situated  immediately  below  the  lungs, 
separated  from  them  by  a  partition  called  diaphragm. 
The  stomach  is  flask-shaped,  guarded  by  valves  or 
circular  muscular  bands  at  the  entrance  and  outlet, 
which  open  and  contract  as  the  food  enters  or  passes 
out  of  the  stomach.  Then  comes  the  small  intestine, 
different  parts  of  which,  owing  to  the  varying  struc- 
ture of  their  mucous  membranes,  have  received  the 
different  names  of  duodenum,  jejunum  and  ileum. 

In  the  duodenum — the  department  of  the  small 
intestines  next  to  the  stomach — we  have  the  opening 
of  the  bile  duct  which  conducts  the  bile  from  the 
liver,  also,  the  opening  of  the  duct  which  conveys  the 
juice  from  the  pancreas,  a  small  gland  situated  back 
of  the  stomach.  Finally,  we  have  the  large  intestines 


THE    LAWS   OF    PHYSIOLOGY.  337 

separated  from  the  smaller  by  a  valve  called  ileocaecal, 
constituting  a  canal  about  twenty-eight  feet  in  length, 
commonly  called  alimentary  canal,  composed  of  a 
mucous  membrane  and  a  muscular  coat,  with  a  layer 
of  fine  skinny-like  tissue  between  the  two.  The 
muscular  coat  is  every  where  composed  of  a  double 
layer  of  longitudinal  and  transverse  fibers,  by  the 
alternate  contraction  and  relaxation  of  which  the 
food  is  carried  through  the  canal  from  above  down- 
ward. The  mucous  membrane  differ  in  kind  in  the 
different  departments  of  this  canal ;  in  the  mouth  it 
is  hard  and  smooth,  in  the  stomach  it  is  soft  and 
thrown  into  minute  folds,  in  the  small  intestines  it 
assumes  the  form  of  small  sparigoles  like  the  small 
absorbent  vessels  situated  at  the  ends  of  the  rootlets  of 
plants,  in  the  large  intestines  it  is  smooth  and  shining. 
Again,  the  juices  secreted  also  vary  in  these  different 
regions.  In  its  passage  downward  the  food  meets 
with  no  less  than  five  different  digestive  fluids.  First 
it  meets  with  the  saliva  in  the  mouth ;  second,  with 
the  gastric  juice  in  the  stomach;  third,  with  the  bile; 
fourth,  with  the  pancreatic  fluid  ;  and  fifth,  with  the 
intestinal  juice.  It  is  the  most  important  character- 
istic of  the  process  of  digestion,  as  established  by 
modern  researches,  that  different  elements  of  the 
food  are  digested  in  different  parts  of  the  alimen- 
tary canal  by  the  different  digestive  fluids.  By 
their  action,  the  various  ingredients  of  the  alimen- 
tary mass  are  successively  reduced  to  a  fluid  condi- 
tion, and  are  taken  up  by  the  vessel  of  the  intestinal 
mucous  membrane. 

22 


THE    LAW. 

CHYLIFICATION. 

FORMATION  OF  THE  ALIMENTARY  MATTERS  INTO 
BLOOD. — The  nutritious  portion  of  the  ingesta  passes 
through  the  cell-walls  of  the  epithelial  covering  of 
the  intestinal  villi  into  the  lacteals.  This  milky  fluid, 
or  chyle,  flows  .continuously  through  the  lymphatic 
glands  towards  the  thoracic  duct.  The  chyle,  exam- 
ined microscopically,  consists  of  a  multitude  of  small 
molecules.  After  passing  the  mesenteric  lymphatic 
glands,  it  mingles  with  the  lymph  and  chyle  corpuscles, 
and  subsequently  is  converted  into  blood  corpuscles 
by  the  action  of  the  blood-glands. 

The  blood-glands,  widely  distributed  through  the 
body,  are  very  vascular,  in  which  are  found  vast 
numbers  of  colorless  nuclei  and  cells,  richly  supplied 
with  lymphatics.  The  lymphatics  exercise  a  great 
influence  over  the  fluid  which  passes  through  them, 
and  serve  to  perfect  it  for  the  changes  it  is  to  under- 
go. The  fluid  passing  through  the  mesenteric  lym- 
phatic glands,  being  milky  is  denominated  chyle,  that 
found  in  the  other  lymphatics  is  limpid,  constituting 
lymph.  These  lymph  corpuscles  also  enter  the 
thoracic  duct,  and  each  contributes  to  the  formation 
of  the  blood. 

The  chyle  supplies  the  fatty,  albuminoid,  and 
mineral  principles,  reduced  to  a  soft  mass ;  while  in 
the  blood-glands  are  formed  the  corpuscles,  which 
become  gradually  developed  as  they  flow  along  the 
lacteals,  and  through  the  lymphatic  glands  are  sent 
through  the  right  side  of  the  heart  into  the  lungs,  as 
soon  as  they  reach  the  blood,  and  are  converted  into 
blood  corpuscles. 


THE    LAWS    OF    PHYSIOLOGY.  339 

CIRCULATION  OF  THE  BLOOD. 

The 'blood  passes  from  the  left  ventricle  of  the 
heart  by  the  aorta,  through  the  systemic  arteries  into 
the  capillaries,  and  is  distributed  throughout  the 
body.  It  is  then  carried  back  by  the  veins  to  the 
right  auricle  of  the  heart  passing  into  the  right  ven- 
tricle, which  sends  it  to  the  pulmonary  artery,  then  to 
the  capillaries  of  the  lungs,  and  then  back  through 
the  pulmonary  veins  to  the  right  auricle  and  ven- 
tricle. 

The  blood  is  propelled  by  contraction  of  the  mus- 
cular walls  of  the  heart,  and  by  the  changes  which  it 
undergoes  during  its  circulation  through  the  body. 
The  heart  is  so  formed  that  by  the  union  of  contrac- 
tile cavities  and  valves,  the  blood  is  constantly  dis- 
tributed through  it  only  in  certain  directions. 

SOUNDS  OF  THE  HEART 

The  first  sound  of  the  heart  is  long,  deep,  and 
dull ;  and  the  second,  short,  sharp,  and  more  super- 
ficial ;  the  impulse  or  striking  of  the  apex  against 
the  thorax,  rushing  of  the  fluid  through  the  aortic 
orifices,  flapping  together  of  the  auriculo-ventricular 
valves  coinciding  with  the  former ;  and  the  rushing 
of  blood  through  the  auriculo-ventricular  valves,  flap- 
ping together  of  the  aortic  valves,  and  contraction  of 
the  ventricles  produce  them.  The  action  of  the 
heart  is  readily  excited  by  exercise,  increased  respira- 
tion, and  mental  emotions.  The  left  ventricle  con- 
tracts much  more  forcibly  than  the  right,  owing  to 
the  greater  thickness  of  its  walls,  and  the  greater 
resistance  to  overcome. 


34-O  THE    LAW. 

The  arteries  are  tubes  composed  of  elastic  and 
fibrous  tissues,  which  convey  and  distribute  the  blood 
through  the  body,  and  change  its  wave-like  move- 
ments into  a  continous  flow.  It  flows  the  most 
rapidly  when  forced  into  the  left  ventricle,  owing  to 
the  great  resistance  of  all  the  tubes.  The  length 
and  thickness  of  the  artery  is  consequently  increased, 
but  soon  recovers  its  usual  size.  These  actions  con- 
stitute the  pulse,  whose  vibrations  number  sixty  to 
seventy  in  the  adult. 

The  capillaries,  consisting  of  fine  membranous 
contractile  tubes,  sub-divide  the  blood  so  that  it  may 
be  influenced  by  the  constant  attraction  exerted  by 
the  tissues.  The  veins  arising  from  the  capillaries, 
are  similarly  constructed  as  the  arteries,  excepting 
the  elastic  tissue  is  not  so  thick.  The  passage  of  the 
blood  through  them  is  assisted  by  internal  valves 
and  respiration  ;  the  former  being  so  arranged  as  to 
prevent  the  fluid  returning  through  the  capillaries. 

RESPIRATION 

is  carried  on  by  the  lungs,  whose  structure  is  so 
arranged  as  to  expose  a  large  number  of  the  capilla- 
ries to  the  action  of  the  atmosphere,  in  inspiration 
owing  to  the  contraction  and  descent  of  the  diaphragm, 
while  ordinary  expiration  is  owing  to  the  elasticity 
of  the  lungs  and  walls  of  the  chest,  aided  by  abdo- 
minal muscular  contractions. 

During  health,  the  number  of  respirations  vary 
from  fourteen  to  sixteen  per  minute ;  in  disease  they 
may  range  from  seven  to  one  hundred.  The  inspired 


THE    LAWS   OF    PHYSIOLOGY.  34! 

air  is  constantly  absorbing  a  portion  of  the  oxygen, 
and  giving  off  carbonic  acid  gas  to  the  expired  air ; 
and  as  the  absorption  of  the  former  is  far  greater 
than  the  production  of  the  latter,  it  follows  that  the 
oxygen  serves  not  only  for  the  oxidation  of  carbon, 
but  also  of  hydrogen,  in  the  organism ;  and  if  the 
air  be  already  charged  with  carbonic  acid,  the  quan- 
tity of  oxygen  is  much  decreased,  the  air  becomes 
very  impure,  and  if  proper  ventilation  be  not  made, 
dyspnoea,  and  even  asphyxia  may  result  from  exclu- 
sion of  atmospheric  air. 

TRANSFORMATION    OF    BLOOD    INTO 
THE   TISSUES. 

The  blood  must  be  of  a  healthy  quality,  which  im- 
plies that  digestion,  assimilation,  respiration,  secre- 
tion, excretion,  etc.,  must  be  performed  properly ;  a 
proper  quantity  in  a  part  is  also  necessary  ;  the  mind 
must  be  free  from  fear  or  anxiety ;  and  the  part  to  be 
nourished  must  be  in  a  healthy  state.  If  the  growth 
be  too  great,  hypertrophy  results  ;  if  too  diminished, 
atrophy  exists. 

RE-ABSORPTION  OF  THE  TISSUES  INTO 

BLOOD. 

At  the  same  time  that  particles  of  matter  are  as- 
similating from  the  blood,  others  are  constantly 
entering  it  from  those  textures  which  have  completed 
their  work;  the  new  substituting  the  place  and  form 
of  the  old.  The  blood,  therefore,  is  composed  of 
organic  matter  formed  by  the  alimentary  canal  and 


342  THE    LAW. 

blood-glands,  (primary  digestion)  and  those  obtained 
from  the  tissues  and  gaseous  fluids  through  the  lungs 
from  the  atmosphere,  (secondary  digestion).  The 
constituents  thus  derived  are  changed  and  trans- 
formed during  the  circulation,  and  are  carried  to  the 
various  excretories,  where  they  separate  and  are  re- 
moved from  the  body. 

ANIMAL  HEAT. 

• 

Animal  heat  is  produced  by  the  combination  of 
the  oxygen  and  blood  in  the  lungs,  and  the  formation 
of  carbonic  acid  gas  in  the  capillaries.  The  quantity 
generated  corresponds  with  the  activity  of  the  respi- 
ration and  the  supply  of  food.  If  respiration  be 
rapid,  the  heat  evolved  is  greater  than  if  slow.  In 
northern  climes  where  the  oxygen  is  more  abundant, 
more  food  is  required  than  in  the  tropical  regions. 
In  order  to  maintain  a  constant  temperature,  the 
amount  of  fuel  consumed  must  vary  according  to  the 
supply  of  oxygen.  The  natural  temperature  of  the 
body  estimated  at  98  to  loodeg.  Fahr.,  seldom  varies, 
owing  to  the  evaporation  through  the  skin.  In 
fevers,  it  may  rise  to  107  deg.,and  in  Asiatic  cholera, 
may  sink  to  77  deg. 

EXCRETION  OF  EFFETE  MATTERS  FROM 
THE  BODY. 

These  matters  are  removed  by  means  of  the  lungs, 
liver,  kidneys,  skin,  and  intestines.  The  amount  of 
water  daily  exhaled  from  the  lungs  varies  from  six 
to  twenty-seven  ounces,  that  of  carbonic  acid,  six 
ounces. 


THE    LAWS    OF   PHYSIOLOGY.  343 

The  venous  blood  supplying  the  liver  by  means  of 
the  portal  vein,  mostly  originating  from  the  intes- 
tines, differs  from  other  blood  in  containing  fat,  dex- 
trine, and  sugar,  (principles  obtained  from  primary 
digestion)  and  fibrin,  (the  result  of  secondary  diges- 
tion.) When  the  blood  reaches  the  liver,  it  breaks 
up  into  a  number  of  minute  capillaries,  and  the 
secreting  cells  which  fill  up  the  spaces  between  them, 
attract  and  select  from  it  matters  which  form  bile, 
viscid,  greenish,  or  yellow  fluid,  having  a  strong, 
bitter  taste  which  is  discharged  through  ducts  to  the 
gall-bladder.  The  daily  quantity  formed  varies  from 
seventeen  to  twenty-four  ounces,  part  of  which  is 
excreted  through  the  alimentary  canal,  although  a 
greater  quantity  is  absorbed  into  the  blood,  and  re- 
moved from  the  lungs  in  the  form  of  carbonic  acid  ; 
thus  proving  that  although  useful  as  a  secretion  in 
operation  upon  the  chyme,  yet  its  main  function  con- 
sists in  purifying  the  blood  of  hydrogen  and  carbon. 

The  liver  also  secretes  a  large  quantity  of  free  fat 
and  glycogen,  (a  substance  containing  all  the  proper- 
ties of  hydrated  starch,)  which  decomposes  and  disap- 
pears upon  coming  in  contact  with  the  oxygen  of  the 
air  in  the  lungs.  If  the  action  of  the  lungs  be  im- 
perfect, that  of  the  liver  is  prone  to  be  especially 
disturbed.  Thus,  if  more  non-nitrogenized  aliment 
be  consumed  than  can  be  exhaled  in  the  form  of  car- 
bonic acid,  the  liver  secretes  more  bile  into  the  duo- 
denum, which  gives  rise  to  bilious  symptoms. 

The  kidneys  separate  from  the  blood  a  large  quan- 
tity of  the  water  taken  into  the  body,  as  drink,  cer- 
tain matters  resulting  from  a  primary  and  secondary 


344  THE  LAW. 

digestion,  particularly  urea  and  uric  acid  in  the  latter, 
and  a  large  amount  of  earthy  salts.  These,  together 
with  the  excrementitious  fluid  secreted  by  the  corti- 
cal substance  of  the  kidneys  accumulate  in  the  urinary 
bladder,  and  are  expelled  from  time  to  time  from  the 
urethra ;  the  daily  amount  discharged  being  thirty- 
five  fluid  ounces  in  a  healthy  individual. 

The  skin  is  continually  excreting  watery  and  fatty 
matters ;  the  former  being  removed  in  the  form  of 
vapor  by  the  sudoriparous,  or  sweat  glands,  and  the 
latter  by  the  follicular,  or  sebaceous  glands,  in  the 
form  of  an  oily  fluid.  The  quantity  daily  excreted 
varies  from  one  to  five  pounds.  That  removed  daily 
from  the  intestines  amounts  to  five  ounces,  which 
consists  of  undigested  food,  and  of  various  secretions 
poured  into  the  alimentary  canal. 

I  have  now  briefly  stated  a  few  facts,  giving  the 
outlines  of  the  laws  of  physiology,  which  the  reader 
is  advised  to  embrace,  as  part  of  his  daily  study,  and 
pursue  the  subject  in  perusing  the  writings  of  other 
authors.  No  person  is  qualified  to  assume  any  re- 
sponsible position  who  is  ignorant  of  the  laws  that 
govern  physical  life.  Those  who  enter  the  holy  bonds 
of  matrimony,  who  are  parents,  teachers,  preachers, 
savans,  laborers,  business  men,  and  especially  those 
who  make  our  laws,  are  benefited  in  their  undertak- 
ings by  consulting  the  science  of  physiology.  "  True 
knowledge,"  said  a  celebrated  philosopher,  "  is  better 
than  riches."  "  First  seek  ye  the  kingdom  of  God 
and  his  righteousness,  and  all  things  else  shall  be 
added  unto  you."  I  believe  this  to  be  a  physiological 
truth,  as  well  as  religious  or  moral,  for  it  is  demon- 


THE    LAWS    OF    PHYSIOLOGY.  345 

strated  almost  every  day  that  those  who  seek  first 
after  a  proper  knowledge  of  the  laws  of  nature,  and 
who  obey  them  in  their  daily  practice,  are  the  most 
happy,  the  most  successful  in  business.  If  you  have 
a  knowledge  of  the  truth,  "  all  things  else  will  be 
added  unto  you,"  demonstrating  the  truth  of  the  say- 
ing, "  for  unto  every  one  that  hath  shall  be  given." 
Those  who  seek  not  after  a  knowledge  of  the  laws 
governing  life,  have  a  hard  road  to  travel  in  their 
search  after  those  things  which  contribute  to  man's 
happiness ;  therefore,  "  from  him  that  hath  not  shall 
be  taken  away  even  that  which  he  hath."  It  is  evi- 
dent that  when  we  live  in  obedience  to  natural  laws, 
we  are  blessed ;  and  when  we  disobey  them,  we  are 
cursed.  If  this  is  true  in  regard  to  the  individual,  it 
is  true  in  regard  to  the  nation.  Governmental  law, 
to  be  right,  must  agree  with  the  laws  of  physiology, 
or  the  natural  laws,  which  govern  the  life  of  the  in- 
dividual. The  starting-point  is  with  the  individual 
rights,  and  the  natural  relation  one  human  being  sus- 
tains to  another.  I  attach  so  much  importance  to 
the  study  of  physiology  that  I  would  have  it  required, 
by 

A  LAW  OF  THE  LAND, 

that  every  person  who  has  arrived  at  the  age  of  ma- 
turity, and  especially  those  who  vote  on  governmental 
affairs,  should  be  possessed  of  an  average  amount  of 
physiological  education.  The  immortal  Dr.  Mott 
said :  "  I  have  no  confidence  in  man's  efforts  to  re- 
form the  world  so  long  as  the  governmental  laws  dis- 


346  THE  LAW. 

agree  with  the  principles  of  physiology."  The  great 
Ex-Governor  Talmadge,  of  Michigan,  said,  in  a  speech, 
"  To  purify  the  nation,  and  to  enact  laws  which  will 
render  the  greatest  amount  of  happiness  to  the  great- 
est number,  we  must  require  certain  qualifications  in 
property  and-education  of  every  voter  of  the  coun- 
try." I  have  long  been  in  favor  of  a  law  requiring 
at  least  a  certain  degree  of  educational  qualification 
in  our  voters,  withholding  the  right  of  elective  fran^ 
chise  from  all  persons  of  a  doubtful  moral  character, 
those  engaged  in  an  unlawful  business,  and  those  of 
no  business,  trade,  or  visible  means  of  support.  It 
is  certainly  in  keeping  with  common  sense  to  pro- 
hibit those  from  voting  who  take  no  interest  in  their 
own  welfare,  or  those  who  are  too  ignorant  to  know 
their  own  good,  for  such  persons  can  never  contribute 
to  the  happiness  of  the  people.  Our  laws  to  become 
harmoniously  adjusted  with  the  laws  of  nature,  must 
be  philosophically  considered,  in  order  to  incorporate 
true  principles,  by  which  to  govern  human  actions,  in 
all  forms  of  civil  and  political  rights,  laws,  remedies, 
and  governments ;  and  not  until  then  may  we  expect 
the  glory  of  Heaven  to  come  on  earth, — when  human 
laws  and  institutions  harmonize  with  the  just  and 
immutable  principles  of  cause  and  effect. 


CHAPTER    XXI. 

MENTAL    CULTURE,   OR   THE    LAWS    WHICH    GOVERN 
MENTAL    TRAINING. 

I  do  not  propose  in  this  chapter  to  enter  into  a 
full  discussion  of  the  subject,  so  far  as  quoting  au- 
thority is  concerned,  but  simply  to  state  a  few  facts 
as  they  have  appeared  to  merit  attention,  and  as  I 
have  observed  them  during  a  number  of  years  of  my 
professional  labors. 

No  one  disputes  the  impressible  character  of  a 
child's  mind, and  that  it  is  just  as  easy  to  make  a  bad 
impression  upon  it  as  a  good  one.  In  the  first  part 
of  this  volume,  we  showed  how  persons  arc  by  nature 
inclined  to  evil,  and  require  only  conditions  favorable 
to  such  inclination  to  show  its  development.  The 
fact  that  such  a  tendency  exists  must  be  the  basis  of 
our  remarks. 

The  pliancy  of  the  mind  is  readily  observed  in  the 
young  child,  as  well  as  the  avidity  with  which  it  re- 
ceives impressions.  It  is  suggestive  that  there  is  a 
store-house  within  the  soul  to  be  filled,  and  at  a  very 
early  period  the  mind  begins  to  collect  its  treasures 
for  futurity.  It  is  well  to  consider  the  character  of 
the  receptacle,  its  comparative  fragileness,  and  its 
susceptibility  to  fatigue. 

Any  material  of  nature  possessed  of  the  philo- 
sophical principle,  pliancy,  we  are  well  aware,  has  a 
tendency,  from  its  elastic  quality,  to  yield  under  the 

347 


348  THE    LAW. 

pressure  of  a  constant  strain.  This  effect  is  sure  to 
follow  in  the  case  of  the  overtaxed  mind.  A  board 
constantly  bent,  not  only  assumes  the  bent  position, 
but  does  not  return  to  its  wonted  state.  The  bent 
twig,  when  forced  into  an  unnatural  position,  if  the 
strain  is  continued  for  a  sufficiently  long  time,  never 
returns  to  its  previous  erect  posture.  This  principle 
applies  just  as  forcibly  to  the  mind  ;  and  the  training, 
during  its  commencing  period,  should  be  just  as 
carefully  conducted  as  that  of  the  young  tree ;  yea, 
far  more  so.  If  the  mind  is  to  live  forever,  it  is  of 
much  more  consequence  than  a  tree  ;  yet  how  many 
will  spend  unwearied  care  over  a  little  bush,  which 
will  seem  to  bear  upon  their  minds  as  of  far  more 
consequence  than  the  intellects  of  their  children. 

They  are  left  to  themselves,  as  if  of  a  spontaneous 
character,  and  all  that  is  necessary  for  their  proper 
development  is  to  leave  all  the  cultivation  to  natural 
circumstances. 

This  should  not  be,  nor  is  it  so  with  those  who 
have  a  true  conception  of  the  work  to  be  done,  and 
the  great  end  to  be  accomplished.  The  endless 
questions  of  the  child,  as  before  stated,  show  that 
the  mental  storehouse  is  waiting  to  be  filled,  and  the 
constancy  with  which  they  apply  themselves  shows 
that  the  work  is  all  sufficient  for  them.  The  two- 
year  old  prattler  does  not  need  the  constraint  of  a 
school-room  in  order  to  avoid  being  a  blockhead ; 
but  learning  the  names  of  different  objects,  the  pro- 
cess of  associating  and  comparing  them  with  each 
other,  is  sufficient  to  keep  so  young  a  mind  busy. 

They  must  learn  the   idea  as  well  as  the  fact  of 


MENTAL   CULTURE.  349 

obedience,  and  though  they  may  not  take  to  it  in- 
stinctively, yet  its  importance  requires  that  it  be 
established.  Compulsion  in  this  matter  is  hardly  out 
of  the  question ;  but  to  learn  what  the  sounds,  home, 
tree,  man,  dog,  etc.,  mean,  seems  almost  a  part  of 
their  nature.  What  good  can  it  do  a  child  to  be 
constrained  to  look  upon  the  letters  m-a-n,  when  it 
has  but  just  learned  the  import  of  the  sounds  they 
convey,  and  when  its  powers  of  association  have  been 
so  feebly  called  into  action  ?  It  has  all  it  can  possibly 
learn  to  become  familiar  with  the  names  of  the 
myriad  of  objects  in  the  world  around,  and  this  is 
just  the  foundation  for  future  development. 

The  tree  requires  the  rain  to  give  it  moisture ;  the 
sunshine  to  give  it  health  and  vigor ;  alternate  day 
and  night  to  perform  its  respiration — absorb  oxygen 
and  give  off  carbonic  acid  gas,  etc.;  the  wind  to  give 
firmness  and  strength  to  its  body  and  roots ;  all  of 
these  are  necessary  to  accomplish  what  is  requisite 
for  a  perfect  tree.  Yet  it  is  not  best  that  the  storm 
should  continue  to  beat  upon  the  tender  sprout  just 
spreading  above  the  ground  ;  rather  should  it  be 
sheltered  down  in  the  deep  wood,  where  the  mighty 
parent  trees  cast  their  shadows  over  it  until  it  lifts  its 
head  far  up  among  those  parent  trees,  when  it  has 
secured  a  sufficient  strength  to  resist  in  its  own  be- 
half. 

So  the  young  mind  needs  to  send  out  the  roots  of 
advancing  strength  in  obtaining  the  fundamental 
principles  of  its  nature.  There  are  some  bright 
geniuses,  which,  like  glowing  meteors,  dazzle  the  eye 
with  their  brilliant  corruscations ;  but  such  geniuses 


35O  THE    LAW. 

are  often,  like  the  meteor,  soon  gone.  Those  chil- 
dren who  in  early  youth  receive  all  the  prizes  and 
medals  for  brilliant  scholarship,  are  not  generally  the 
ones  who  make  a  mark  in  the  world. '  Such  children 
possess  temperaments  of  an  extreme  nervous  char- 
acter, and  are  like  transparent  boilers  of  glass,  though 
by-standers  may  hurrah  and  spur  them  on,  their 
minds  can  stand  only  a  certain  tension — they  burst 
and  are  gone. 

One  of  the  most  inconsiderate  acts  of  fond  parents, 
possessed  of  one  of  these  fragile  characters,  is  to 
press  it  on.  "  Crowd  it  on"  is  only  a  faint  expression 
for  the  course  pursued  by  some  of  them.  If  a  prize 
is  offered,  they  wish  them  to  get  it,  no  matter  what 
the  sacrifice  may  be.  It  would  not  be  such  a  pleas- 
ant scene  to  parents  and  friends,  if,  upon  examination 
and  exhibition  days,  they  could  see  how  nearly  the 
fuel  in  their  darling's  brain  has  been  consumed  in 

o 

trying  to  obtain  that  phantom  of  mental  worth,  and 
what  a  wreck  of  mentality  is  just  behind  a  thin  cur- 
tain of  the  future,  which  they,  in  their  present  blind- 
ness, can  not  see  through.  Frequently  the  truth 
bursts  upon  them  when  too  late.  It  is  strange  that 
parents  and  teachers  do  not  more  readily  understand 
what  forms  the  true 

BASIS  OF  A  STRONG 

mind.  Often  the  apathy  caused  by  nature  refusing 
to  shower  a  brilliant  exotic  intelligence  upon  the 
child,  is  taken  to  be  laziness.  But  when,  in  after 
years,  the  child  comes  forth  a  man,  with  a  fully  devel- 


MENTAL   CULTURE. 


351 


oped  brain  and  a  sound,  rugged  body,  possessing  an 
energy  of  character  sufficient  to  control  an  army  of 
those  early  lights,  the  fact  appears  that  nature  knew 
her  own  business  best,  when,  instead  of  lavishing  the 
vital  principle,  or  nerve  stimulus,  in  producing  a  pre- 
mature growth,  she  built  the  mind  a  house  not  founded 
upon  the  sand,  but  upon  a  rock — a  sound  body.* 

Some  parents  lament  exceedingly  that  their  boy  or 
girl  is  not  as  bright  as  their  neighbor's.  The  minister, 
perhaps,  wishes  his  son  to  be  a  minister  also  ;  but  the 
son  cares  as  little  for  Greek,  Latin,  or  Hebrew,  as  an 
elephant  would  to  try  to  imitate  the  antics  of  a  mon- 
key, and,  perhaps,  if  forced  to  them,  would  succeed 
just  about  as  well.  But  the  boy  loves  to  ride  a  horse, 
or  crack  a  whip  as  he  drives  fn  his  neighbor's  car- 
riage, and  his  mind  can  not  be  taken  from  it.  That 
boy  may  or  may  not,  in  after  years,  when  the  body 
has  become  matured  and  the  brain  enthroned  over 
an  established  kingdom,  become  one  of  the  mighty 
men  of  our  land.  Thousands  of  just  such  men  are 
to-day  wielding  a  wondrous  power  over  the  destinies 
of  mankind,  who,  under  other  developments,  might 
have  been  but  striplings  when  compared  with  their 
present  giant  intellects.  But  if  the  boy  chooses  to 
continue  his  career  in  the  way  he  has  started,  it  would 
only  be  lost  labor  to  try  to  fashion  his  character  oth- 
erwise. 

At  what  age  the  child  should  go  to  school  has  been 
extensively  discussed,  and  perhaps  with  as  indefinite 
results  as  would  naturally  be  expected.  Laws  have 

*  Watts  on  the  Mind. 


352  THE    LAW. 

been  passed  in  some  states  restricting  to  certain  ages, 
though  these  high  authorities  are  disposed  to  differ. 
Parents  are  often  actuated  by  different  motives  in 
regard  to  the  matter.  Some  are  so  extremely 
anxious  to  see  their  children  making  advances  in  the 
road  to  learning  that  they  urge  them  away  to  school 
at  a  very  early  date — to  private  schools  if  forbidden 
in  the  public.  Others  are  desirous  that  their  children 
should  get  all  the  knowledge  they  can  before  they 
are  old  enough  to  work,  thinking  their  services  will 
be  of  advantage  after  they  have  passed  their  infancy. 
Another  class,  possessed  of  only  an  unhappy,  fretful 
spirit,  wish  to  get  the  noisy  little  ones  out  of  the  way. 
This  is  acting  from  a  most  contemptible,  mean  spirit. 
They  can  not  govern  their  children  at  home  ;  there- 
fore they  wish  to  throw  the  responsibility  upon  some 
one  else.  Generally  they  care  but  little  for  the  im- 
pressions made  upon  their  minds  and  characters,  nor 
do  many  of  them  care  even  whether  they  go  to  school 
as  ordered,  if  they  only  keep  their  noisy  selves  away 
from  the  house. 

With  such  a  spirit  acted  out  by  the  parents,  what 
shall  we  expect  from  their  children  ? — only  an  aug- 
mented looseness  of  character,  a  far  more  debased, 
brutish  mind,  and  a  general  sinking  to  a  selfish,  sensual 
kind  of  life  ? 

But  in  all  this  there  is  no  mental  training ;  it  is 
only  the  spontaneous  growth  of  the  wheat  choked 
by  the  weeds  of  an  uncultivated  soil.  But  little 
good  comes  from  it,  yet  evil  reaps  a  rich  harvest. 

From  six  to  eight  is  quite  early  enough  to  com- 
mence the  stern  realities  of  cultivating  the  mental 


MENTAL   CULTURE.  353 

powers.  But  how  often  we  see  those  parents  who 
have  some  of  those  sparkling  little  gems  entrusted 
to  their  care, — "  those  brilliant  little  spirits,"  said  Dr. 
Burrows,  in  a  lecture  on  mental  training,  "who  are 
living  in  advance  of  their  years,  and  who  are  the  pro- 
ducts of  parents  of  over-heated  imaginations,  urging 
them  into  the  arena  of  science,  while  scarcely  able  to 
speak  without  the  lisping  voice.  It  seems  hard  for 
them  to  deprive  these  tender  plants  of  the  noonday 
sun,  since  it  is  so  delightful  to  themselves  ;  yet  they 
do  not  think  of  the  fragile  character  of  the  just  ex- 
panding bud,  and  how  easily  it  may  wither  when 
exposed  in  the  spring  of  infancy,  to  the  fierce  rays  of 
a  midsummer's  sun." 

"  The  teacher  catches  the  spirit  of  the  parent,"  says 
Professor  Venton,  "  and  the  desire  is  to  please  the 
parents,  and  therefore  they  urge  them  on." 

The  great  Dr.  Thomas  remarks,  "  there  is  some- 
thing endearing  in  those  sparkling  eyes,  those  tender 
and  sympathetic  affections,  that  ready  wit  and  quick 
apprehension,  which  causes  the  tenderest  feelings  of 
the  teacher  to  twine  around  such  rare  spirits."  No, 
there  is  nothing  unnatural  in  this.  Yet  for  a  reflec- 
tive mind— a  mind  that  perceives  causes  and  effects 
— there  is  something  sad  in  the  picture.  Not  that 
the  less  favored  ones  are  neglected,  but  that  the 
"  exalted  ones  are  setting  fire  to  their  own  funeral 
pile." 

"  It  is  easier  to  write  upon  the  sand,"  said  a  dis- 
tinguished teacher  and  author,  "than  upon  the  flinty 
rock,"  and  so  the  teacher's  work  is  more  delightful 
while  laboring  with  those  whose  minds  are,  like  tin- 

23 


354  THE  LAW- 

der,  to  be  kindled  with  the  merest  spark."  Such  a 
work  maybe  delightful,  but  it  is  more  like  taking  the 
water  from  the  shallow  mud-puddle,  than  boring  into 
the  depths  of  the  earth  for  the  clear  living  spring. 
Those  who  thus  labor,  however,  finally  have  the 
pleasure  of  drinking  the  pure  waters  from  a  never- 
failing  well,  and  have  a  greater  satisfaction  than  he 
who  takes  the  surface  drainage.  Happy  the  teacher, 
who  has  with  much  labor  turned  up  a  precious  gem, 
and,  after  great  efforts  to  polish,  sees  the  shining  sur- 
face beginning  to  appear.  The  stone  which  was  re- 
jected for  many  years  by  the  builders,  at  last  became 
the  "  key-stone"  in  that  grand  arch  of  King  Solomon's 
Temple.  The  priceless  stone  is  kicked  and  trodden 
down  by  the  multitude  for  many  years  perhaps,  but, 
by  and  by,  through  persevering  efforts,  the  sparkling 
surface  begins  to  dazzle  all  around,  and  people  won- 
der that  some  one  had  not  discovered  it  before. 
Such  experience  is  a  pleasure  of  the  most  exalted 
kind.  Professor  Crumbaugh  reports  a  case  in  point, 
one  which  came  under  his  own  care  : 

"  A  boy  of  about  fourteen  was  almost  wholly  bent 
upon  history,  geography,  and  such  studies  as  required 
the  memory  only,  but  mathematics  he  had  no  taste 
for  at  all.  Anything  that  could  be  repeated  from 
memory  he  would  learn  with  the  greatest  ease.  Page 
after  page  he  would  repeat,  after  reading  them  over 
once  or  twice,  but  anything  in  figures  would  hardly 
claim  his  attention  for  a  moment.  I  used  every 
means  I  could  invent  to  get  him  to  consider  the  prin- 
ciples upon  which  the  rules  of  arithmetic  were  founded, 
but  all  seemed  of  no  use;  Almost  every  lesson  would 


MENTAL    CULTURE.  355 

• 

set  him  crying,  and  cause  my  own  heart  to  fail,  as  for 
nearly  three  months  I  plied  every  sort  of  stratagems 
to  capture  his  mind  and  fasten  it  upon  this  important 
branch.  The  term  of  school  was  nearly  out,  and  to 
all  appearances  I  had  not  made  the  slightest  progress 
towards  accomplishing  my  object. 

"  One  day  there  seemed  to  be  something  buoyant  in 
the  atmosphere — something  that  had  an  exhilarating 
effect  upon  the  animal  spirits  as  well  as  upon  the 
mind.  The  mildness  of  the  weather — for  it  was 
winter — the  soft  rays  of  sunlight,  and  a  gently  sigh- 
ing breeze  filled  the  school-house,  and  all  within 
seemed  to  catch  an  inspiration  from  the  visible  pres- 
ence of  nature  around.  One  particular  example  in 
his  arithmetic  seemed  to  take  the  attention  of  my 
backward  scholar.  He  called  for  help.  My  own 
head  felt  clearer  than  usual  as  I  endeavored  to  un- 
fold the  principles  involved,  and  all  at  once,  with  a 
sparkling  eye  and  a  beaming  countenance,  he  almost 
jumped  for  joy,  exclaiming,  'I  see  it !  I  know  how  it 
is  done !' 

"  How  beautifully  the  joy  of  his  as  well  as  of  my 
own  heart  contrasted  with  that  beautiful  morning! 
The  hour  of  triumph  had  come,  as  his  after  course 
proved.  From  that  very  moment  his  attention  was 
so  strongly  fixed  upon  his  arithmetic,  that  '  recess' 
might  come  and  go ;  boys  be  merry  at  their  plays 
without,  yet  he  would  be  bending  over  his  slate  as  if 
transfixed  with  the  magic  power  of  figures,  seeming 
almost  to  forget  that  he  even  needed  a  little  rest  from 
severe  mental  labor." 

Great  evil  however  may  arise  from  such  an  absorp- 


356  THE    LAW. 

• 

tion  of  mental  power,  and  the  course  our  good  profes- 
sor pursued  in  the  foregoing  instance  is  not  always 
advisable.  One  who  is  in  the  quick-sands  cannot  lift 
himself  out,  since  he  has  no  sure  foundation  to  stand 
upon.  The  sudden  transition  of  the  mind  from  a 
dark  picture  to  an  extremely  light  one,  may  cause  a 
momentary  blindness. 

The  teacher's  work  is  to  manage  so  delicately 
formed  an  engine  so  that  too  great  a  pressure  may 
not  produce  a  terrible  disaster.  A  powerful  ambition 
may  keep  up  even  a  weak  body  for  a  long  time,  but 
re-action  is  sure  to  follow.  He  who  can  govern  him- 
self in  this  matter  is  a  wise  master. 

A  thorough  understanding  of  this  subject  is  of 

IMMENSE    IMPORTANCE. 

Those  children  who  learn  rules  by  rote  are  in 
danger  of  becoming  little  better  than  parrots ;  for 
correct  mental  discipline  should  enlist  the  under- 
standing. 

Candidates  for  the  position  of  teacher,  and  children 
undergoing  school-examinations,  are  judged  as  to 
their  qualifications  by  questions  which  are  mainly  in- 
tended to  puzzle  rather  than  to  find  out  whether 
they  have  an  understanding  of  the  subject.  Many 
of  the  former  are  rejected,  as  unfit  to  be  teachers ; 
and  the  latter  to  receive  a  prize,  on  the  most  trivial 
mistakes, — mere  technicalities, — while,  at  the  same 
time  the  best  teacher  loses  the  position  sought,  and 
the  child  that  has  real  understanding,  the  prize ; 
while  those  who  are  rewarded  can  scarcely  bound 


MENTAL   CULTURE.  357 

correctly  the  town  in  which  they  live, — happening 
merely  to  be  posted  in  such  insignificant  details  as 
the  examiners  select  for  a  standard  by  which  to 
measure  educational  standing.  In  this,  doubtless, 
many  of  our  boards  of  education  are  woefully  de- 
ficient. Graduates  of  colleges  often  make  the  poor- 
est teachers.  To  understand  how  to  teach  so  as  to 
make  the  greatest  progress  with  the  pupil  is  a  fine 
point,  and  little  is  as  yet  known  on  the  subject.  To 
merely  hear  the  pupil  recite  his  lesson,  or  require 
him  to  speak  a  piece,  is  not,  in  my  judgment,  teach- 
ing. Many  children  learn  their  lesson  at  home, 
where  they  are  assisted  by  their  parents ;  the  next 
day  they  repeat  it  at  school.  To  teach  is  to  explain, 
to  analyze,  to  illustrate,  to  lecture,  to  question,  and 
allow  the  pupil  to  propound  questions,  to  be  answered 
by  the  teacher,  and  thus  a  mystery  may  be  easily 
made  plain  to  the  child.  If  the  pupil  is  required  to 
learn  alone,  from  books,  it  may  take  months  to  ac- 
quire all  this.  A  knowledge  of  Greek,  Latin,  the 
higher  mathematics,  and  everything  that  belongs  to 
a  classical  education  does  not  always  make  profit- 
able teachers.  A  piano  may  be  perfect,  and  our 
performer  well  dressed,  good  looking,  and  college 
educated,  with  finger  rings,  breast-pins,  etc.,  and  we 
may  think  we  have  a  right  to  expect  delightful  music. 
But  oh,  horrors !  Those  fingers  do  not  go  to  the  right 
place ;  the  instrument  does  not  give  forth  charming 
sounds.  What  is  the  trouble  ? — is  the  fault  with  the 
piano  ?  Another  performer,  rough  in  appearance, 
educated  only  in  the  commonest  branches,  but  know- 
ing how  to  produce  harmony,  having  a  higher  knowl- 


35  THE    LAW. 

edge  of  music,  approaches  the  instrument,  and  how 
different  the  notes  which  now  fall  on  the  gratified  ear ! 
The  secret  is,  the  one  has  caught  the  true  spirit  and 
meaning  of  his  art ;  the  other  has  not.  So  it  is  with 
the  teacher.  It  is  not  always  the  one  who  makes  the 
biggest  noise  .that  understands  the  business  best. 
Many  who  are  unpretending  are  often  the  most  suc- 
cessful, and  impart  more  information  to  a  class  of 
learners  than  scores  of  the  more  inflated  ones  can. 
Teachers,  superintendents,  and  committees  should  be 
careful  how  they  are  carried  away  by  hobbies  in  dis- 
charging a  duty  requiring  the  utmost  candor. 
The  question  may  now  be  asked 

HOW  SHOULD 

it  be  done  ?  This  is  a  question  easily  asked,  but  not 
easily  answered  ;  especially  by  merely  yes  or  no.  I 
remember,  on  one  occasion,  the  graduating  class  in  a 
medical  college,  in  Philadelphia,  was  about  to  under- 
go a  final  examination  by  the  different  professors 
whose  merits  were  pretty  freely  discussed  by  the 
students.  One  of  the  professors  was  noted  for  his 
eccentricities  and  his  rough  exterior  bearing,  and  was 
set  down  as  the  one  to  be  most  dreaded.  This  dread 
was  not  lessened  by  the  instruction  to  the  class  to 
meet  in  his  parlor  at  an  appointed  hour,  or  they 
would  not  get  his  signature  to  their  diplomas.  At 
the  appointed  hour,  with  trembling  steps  and  beating 
hearts,  they  wended  their  way  to  the  supposed  cheer- 
less spot.  The  class  had  planned  to  move  together, 
and  on  entering  found  things  more  cheerful  than  they 


MENTAL    CULTURE.  359 

had  anticipated.  The  professor,  in  his  easy  chair, 
dressed  in  his  evening-gown,  leisurely  reclining  with 
his  feet  elevated,  all  plainly  bespoke  a  degree  of  in- 
difference that  made  them  feel  much  at  home.  The 
conversation  was  free,  about  the  weather,  health, 
business  prospects,  studies,  etc.,  and  before  they  were 
aware  of  it  the  examination  was  rapidly  advancing. 
It  was  remarked  afterwards  that  this  was  the  most 
satisfactory  examination  they  ever  passed. 

In  this  way  each  student  had  been  led  to  produce 
the  treasures  of  his  mind,  and  had  not  been  treated 
as  an  automaton — a  mere  machine  to  move  in  a  pre- 
scribed circle  to  satisfy  the  fogyism  of  stereotyped 
domineering  customs.  The  course  pursued  in  the 
examination  showed,  also,  that  the  professor  under- 
stood his  business,  without  books  or  papers.  The 
object  of  these  examinations  are  simply  to  inquire 
whether  the  candidates  understand  what  is  requisite 
for  them  to  know.  A  few  questions  printed  on  a 
slip  of  paper,  requesting  the  pupil  to  answer  them  in 
writing,  does  not  give  us  an  idea  of  the  real  knowl- 
edge the  pupil  possesses.  The  teacher  who  can 
comprehend  at  a  glance  the  proper  method  of  arous- 
ing the  child's  mind,  and  who  is  capable  of  unfolding 
to  that  mind  what  he  knows  himself,  be  it  much  or 
little,  is  the  most  successful. 

The  richest  man  that  walks  the  earth,  if  cast  alone 
upon  a  barren  island,  would  die  of  famine  just  as 
surely  as  would  the  poorest  one;  nor  would  it  be  any 
help  if  he  should  pompously  walk  around  counting 
over  his  houses,  lands,  bank-stocks,  railroad-bonds, 
etc.  What  he  now  wants  is  the  substantial — the 


360  THE    LAW. 

food  for  the  stomach.  So  may  the  mind  of  the  child 
famish  for  want  of  proper  food,  though  the  teacher 
is  abounding  in  the  languages,  mathematics,  and  fine 
arts,  but  lacking  in  a  proper  knowledge  of  how  to 
impart  them  to  others.  Thus  we  want  more  prac- 
ticability. The  picture  must  be  painted  in  durable 
colors,  and  not  be  simply  a  shadow  thrown  upon  the 
wall,  as  quick  to  vanish  as  it  was  in  making  its  ap- 
pearance. 

The  more  we  study  the  mind,  the  more  we  see  its 
constitutional  frailty,  and  the  more  impressed  we 
must  become  with  the  wondrous  care  needed  in 
moulding  it  in  its  formative  stage.  If  we  wish  to 
make  it  a  flower  filled  with  the  sweets  of  a  virtuous 
character,  the  cultivation  must  be  faithfully  attended 
to.  Evil  principles  in  the  mind,  like  weeds  in  a  gar- 
den, are  destructive  to  all  good,  and  will  grow  down 
everything  desirable.  If  the  cultivation  and  dressing 
is  not  prompt  and  constant,  so  much  headway  is 
made  by  the  weeds  that  all  good  is  in  danger  of 
being  rooted  up.  It  is  a  sad  time  when  the  garden  of 
the  mind  must  be  left  disfigured  with  vicious  growths, 
just  because  both  good  and  evil  have  been  so  allowed 
to  take  root  together  that  the  eradication  of  the  one 
will  disturb  the  other.  It  is  virtually  acknowledging 
that  the  weeds  have  the  mastery  and  must  therefore 
be  left  untouched. 

When  we  consider  the  pliancy  of  the  mind,  need 
we  wonder  that  boys  and  girls,  scarcely  out  of  the 
nursery,  are  so  easily  lead  from  the  path  of  virtue, 
when  the  moral  principles  are  but  imperfectly  im- 
pressed upon  the  mind,  especially  since  the  seeds  of 


MENTAL   CULTURE.  361 

temptation  are  scattered  so  thickly  over  our  land. 
Our  station-houses  are  full  of  them,  and  large  prisons 
are  multiplying  for  them.  Our  country  is  groaning 
over  the  increase  of  crime  of  every  shade,  for  boys 
and  girls,  men  and  women,  who  have  minds  crowded 
with  the  rank  weeds  of  discord,  are  beyond  the  re- 
formatory power. 

Therefore,  mental  training  should  be  so  conducted 
as  to  deprive  the  king  of  darkness  of  his  terrific 
power.  But  many  times,  where,  in  the  matter  of 
general  education,  the  child  is  driven,  at  a  very  early 
age,  to  tasks  he  heartily  despises,  or  is  so  long  and 
steadily  confined  to  them  that  his  whole  nature  re- 
volts, the  mind  gradually  becomes  weakened,  and 
finally  yields  to  the  cold  advances  of  the  relentless 
usurper.  When  once  a  distaste  for  study  has  been 
created,  it  is  far  more  difficult  to  restore  such  a  one 
than  to  gain  one  who  has  never  before  visited  the 
field.  The  pet  bird  if  once  wounded  will  no  more 
sit  upon  the  hand  that  feeds  it ;  the  whipped  dog 
will  not  obey  the  will  of  him  who  gave  the  blow ;  and, 
as  the  overloaded  stomach  revolts  at  the  thoughts  of 
the  food  that  has  made  it  so,  so  the  mind,  when 
doubly  bitted  and  whipped  into  an  ill-fitting  harness, 
only  tries  to  keep  as  far  off  as  possible. 

One  of  the  greatest  misfortunes  arising' from  a 
misguidance  in  mental  training  is  the 

LOSS  OF  REASON. 

Professor  Denton  remarks  on  mental  training : 
"  A  bright,  intelligent  being,  one  who  has  been  the 


362  THE    LAW. 

pride  of  parents  and  society,  and  whose  ready  wit 
and  buoyant  manners  have  been  sought  for  as  of  in- 
estimable worth,  through  a  mysterious  transformation 
becomes  an  imbecile!  The  brain  is  just  as  large  now 
as  ever,  the  stature  has  not  diminished  in  the  least, 
but  the  intelligence  has  suffered  from  some  invisible 
effect.  This  is  more  generally  the  consequence  of 
overwork  in  those  of  middle  life  than  among  children. 
The  child,  especially  if  it  be  one  of  those  premature 
developments,  puts  forth  all  its  intellectual  beauties 
before  the  body  has  sufficiently  matured  to  support 
so  much  mental  fire,  and  as  the  strife  goes  on  between 
body  and  mind,  the  one  or  the  other  must  yield,  and 
generally  the  physical  being  is  conquered  and  the 
child  dies.  The  mind  is  still  strong,  and  even  while 
death  is  undoing  the  ties  that  bind  the  immortal  to 
the  perishable,  the  soul  shines  forth  as  strong  and 
brilliant  as  ever,  and  the  consoling  thought  is  seized 
upon  by  the  bereft  parents,  that  the  child  is  too  good 
to  live.  How  often  such  a  remark  is  made,  yet  how 
imperfectly  understood.  Everyone  knows  that  a  safe 
without  a  lock  is  no  more  burglar-proof  than  the 
merest  sham  made  of  wood ;  but  the  idea  is  at  once 
forgotten  when  we  look  upon  the  body  as  a  safe  to 
contain  the  priceless  soul. 

"The  matter  of  physical  training  in  colleges  and 
schools  is  a  good  one,  but  perhaps  it  is  in  a  crude 
state  at  present,  or  its  importance  is  unfairly  consid- 
ered by  the  people  at  large.  The  contrivances  for 
lifting,  pulling,  leaping  and  such  like  performances, 
may  be  better  than  nothing,  but  what  does  it  avail, 
though  a  man  by  persevering  effort  may  enable  him- 


MENTAL    CULTURE.  363 

self  to  lift  a  thousand  pounds  !  It  is  only  an  over- 
growth, and  entirely  unnatural.  For  properly  de- 
veloped men  and  women  we  must  look  into  rural  life, 
where,  instead  of  lifting  just  for  the  lifting  itself,  the 
strength  is  applied  for  the  accomplishing  of  some 
other  valuable  object.  The  full  chest,  the  well 
developed  lungs,  the  ruddy  and  sun-browned  cheeks 
and  the  naturally  expanded  waist,  all  tell  how  securely 
enclosed  is  the  mind  of  such  people. 

"  Look  the  world  over  and  see  how  facts  and  fig- 
ures trace  out  the  birth-places  of  genius  and  intelli- 
gence, tracing  them  to  rural  districts  among  the 
mountains  and  wilds  of  the  outlying  country.  The 
farmer's  boy,  after  he  becomes  his  own  man,  seeks 
out  the  city  where  he  can  bring  the  treasures  of  his 
mind  into  action,  and  his  strides  are  gigantic,  because 
there  is  power  in  his  physical  being  to  drive  him 
through  all  opposition.  With  proper  care  he  lives  to 
bear  his  gray  hairs  to  extreme  old  age,  and  when 
called  to  die,  can  leave  a  record  of  years  spent  in  the 
vigorous  pursuit  of  the  great  end  of  his  earthly 
existence. 

"  Let  us  turn  for  a  moment  from  these  interesting 
reflections  and  enter  yonder  alms-house  to  make  ob- 
servation upon  the  different  classes  of  those  inmates 
living  upon  public  charity.  There  is  a  young  lady 
who  still  bears  some  of  the  beauties  of  a  once  lovely 
face;  symmetrically  proportioned,  and  still  bearing 
charms  that  captivate  the  eye  and  heart.  Were  she 
only  as  richly  attired  as  when  she  moved  in  the  grand 
circle  of  a  father's  mansion,  she  would  surpass  the 
whole  class  of  village  belles  in  personal  attractions. 


364  THE    LAW. 

But  why  is  she  thus  meanly  clad,  and  debarred  from 
the  society  of  others?  How  can  such  a  beautiful 
creature  be  contented  with  such  common  fare  when 
the  world  is  open  before  her?  Why  does  she  not 
seek  the  pleasures  and  amusements  of  life  while  her 
youthful  days  are  passing?  She  is  never  heard  to 
utter  one  word  of  complaint,  or  express  a  desire  for  a 
different  life.  See  how  she  tosses  herself  from  side 
to  side, gazing  here  and  therewith  a  wild  and  frantic 
look !  See  how  she  laughs  at  her  own  wild  thoughts ! 
Now  why  does  she  cry?  Every  trifle  pleases,  but 
she  scarcely  notices  anything  that  transpires.  Why 
does  she  not  notice  or  speak  to  us?  Alas !  her  mind 
is  gone !  She  is  a  maniac — an  idiot — a  town  pauper ! 
She  still  retains  that  exquisitely  beautiful  form,  but 
she  appears  to  differ  from  a  beast  only  in  shape. 
The  beast  may  be  frightened  at  its  shadow  and  she 
may  laugh  at  her  own  ungovernable  fancy. 

"  Now  we  may  apply  to  ourselves  the  questions : 
Why  are  we  not  all  there  under  similar  circumstances? 
Why  is  not  our  summer  table  the  sunny  hillsides  or 
the  smiling  valley  ?  Why  do  we  not  seek  the  re- 
freshing shade  of  the  leafy  grove  as  our  only  retreat 
from  the  burning  sun  ?  Why  are  we  not  at  the  com- 
mand of  some  celestial  being,  as  the  lower  order  of 
animals  is  to  us?  Because  the  liberty  of  the  mind 
calls  for  a  higher  position,  and  a  more  benevolent 
status  obtains  among  us. 

"  Then,  is  not  a  correct  mental  training  one  of  the 
most  important  features  of  our  existence  ?  Do  we 
not  see  that  there  is  too  much  conformity  to  pre- 
scribed rules  ?  Anything  possessed  of  the  pliancy  of 


MENTAL   CULTURE.  365 

the  mind,  requires  the  peculiar  adaptation  of  every 
circumstance  in  order  to  promote  its  growth. 

"As  every  face  differs  in  some  respect  from  all 
others,  so  does  the  training  of  different  minds  require 
every  available  means  that  can  be  brought  to  bear  in 
the  work.  In  passing  through  a  crowd  where  thou- 
sands have  congregated,  we  can  sort  out  our  friends, 
and  no  one  can  deceive  us  in  our  work.  The  slight- 
est difference  in  the  contour  of  the  face,  every  ex- 
pression of  the  countenance,  every  ray  that  shoots 
forth  from  the  soul  within,  bears  some  mark  which 
we  take  in  at  a  glance,  and  deception  is  next  to  im- 
possible. Why  can  not  the  teacher  read  just  as 
readily  the  peculiarities  of  his  pupil,  and  thus  be 
enabled  to  sort  out  all  the  appliances  that  will  assist 
in  the  proper  development  of  the  mind  he  is  train- 
ing ?  It  is  sometimes  done,  and  such  teachers  or 
parents  are  the  successful  ones.  It  is  for  the  purpose 
of  obtaining  such  teachers  that  superintendents  and 
committees  of  schools  should  so  order  their  exami- 
nations as  to  discover  who  has  and  who  has  not  these 
sterling  qualities.  If  a  political  or  a  partizan  spirit 
is  the  prime  mover  for  the  official  work,  the  conse- 
quences will  still  prove  to  be  as  disastrous  in  the 
future  as  they  have  been  in  the  past." 

Training  is  not  only  confined  to  schools,  nor  to 
parental  care ;  neither  must  it  be  confined  to  the 
early  period  of  youth,  as  if  it  were  the  only  time 
when  the  mind  is  receiving  impressions  from  sur- 
rounding circumstances,  for  this  work  is  constantly 
going  on  through  life.  I  must  speak  of  a  very  im- 
portant subject  before  closing  this  chapter,  which  is 
on  the  wonderful  power 


366  THE    LAW. 

OF  THE  PRESS. 

It  is,  like  everything  else,  capable  of  accomplishing 
much  good,  and  may  also  be  made  to  do  a  great  deal 
of  harm.  In  the  work  of  mental  training  perhaps 
there  is  no  other  means  which  can  compare  with  it. 
Thoughts  and  vocal  sounds  are  invisible.  Sound, 
touch,  taste,  and  smell,  make  a  single  impression  on 
the  mind, — then  are  no  more ;  sound  especially  can 
not  be  heard  the  second  time.  The  press  places 
upon  paper  those  ideas  in  a  durable  form,  where  the 
eye  can  see  them  as  often  as  it  chooses,  even  though 
the  writer  has  slumbered  beneath  the  sod  of  the  val- 
ley for  centuries.  His  words  are  still  living.  Think 
of  Homer,  away  off  in  those  dark  ages  of  time  of 
which  we  have  scarcely  an  echo  ;  listen  to  his  won- 
derful words  as  he  speaks  of  wars,  of  heroes,  of 
heroines,  of  gods,  and  of  nations,  who,  but  for  the 
immortality  of  his  verse  would  now  be  entirely  lost 
in  oblivion.  A  writer  said : 

"  As  we  read  his  graphic  descriptions,  we  can  al- 
most hear  the  clashing  hosts  ;  we  can  almost  feel  the 
shocks  of  contending  gods ;  we  can  seem  to  hear  the 
crash  of  falling  walls  and  bursting  gates ;  the  groans 
of  the  wounded  and  dying;  and  yet  all  this  was  in 
long,  long  years  ago,  though  keenly  alive  to  our 
senses  to-day." 

If  the  work  of  the  press  thus  lives,  then,  is  it  not 
important  to  ask  what  is  the  character  of  the  matter 
that  is  thus  immortalized  ?  The  cottager,  with  a  be- 
loved wife  and  half  a  dozen  children,  far  in  the  back- 


MENTAL   CULTURE.  367 

woods,  where  a  newspaper  only  occasionally  disturbs 
his  peace,  and  where  he  can  pursue  undisturbed  his 
vocation,  and  the  study  of  the  wilds  of  nature  is, 
perhaps,  the  happiest  of  mortals. 

The  dark  deeds  of  murder,  robbery,  oppression, 
licentiousness,  and  the  great  catalogue  of  crimes  that 
overflow,  like  a  deluge,  the  clustering  abodes  of  men, 
do  not  annoy  him.  The  storm  may  howl  around  his 
cabin,  the  torrents  pour  upon  his  thatched  roof;  but 
his  home  is  cheerful  even  in  the  cheerless  storm. 
Even  though  the  winds  roar,  the  mighty  trees  rock 
like  so  many  toys,  and  the  lightnings  rend  them  into 
a  thousand  splinters,  yet  all  is  the  work  of  Him  who 
sustains  the  great  universe.  There  are  furious  storms 
in  nature;  but  what  storms  are  also  raging  in  the 
moral  world  !  Who  will  deny  the  growing  tendency 
of  the  press  to  obscenity?  Professor  Venton,  in 
commenting  on  this  subject, 

CONCEIVED  THE  CORRECT 

idea,  when  he  remarked  : 

"We  can  not  pass  the. bulletin  boards  of  our  city 
news-stands,  or  the  bar-rooms  of  country  hotels; 
nor  even  fences,  rocks,  trees,  barn-doors  or  house- 
fronts  of  country  wilds,  but  what  exciting  pictures 
sent  out  by  some  of  the  novel  papers  of  the  day 
must  stare  at  us  like  so  many  demons  to  infuriate  the 
minds  of  the  young.  Do  we  ever  think  of  it  as  we 
see  them,  and  consider  how  rapidly  we  are  drifting  to 
the  vortex  of  iniquity  that  has  proved  so  destructive 
to  a  once  proud  France?  Pictures  of  feminine 


368  THE    LAW. 

beauties  are  irnblushingly  displayed  in  such  positions 
and  with  such  exposures  as  will  arrest  the  unwary 
youth  from  that  purity  of  mind  which  should  always 
be  the  object  of  a  perfect  mental  training.  But  it  is 
not  the  object  here  ;  therefore  the  more  indecent  the 
exposures,  the  more  debased  the  mind  becomes,  and 
will  run  after  all  such  tempting  baits.  The  stories 
themselves  are  the  strongest  that  can  be  made  to 
excite  just  that  one  passion  that  should  be  held  in 
mastery  above  all  others.  The  day  laborer  as  well 
as  the  millionaire  will  fill  his  pockets,  of  a  Saturday 
night,  with  these  inflammable  documents,  for  his 
family's  amusement  during  the  tedious  hours  of  the 
holy  Sabbath  day.  He  says  he  does  not  get  much 
time  to  read,  and  he  wants  something  light  to  cheer 
him  up.  It  makes  his  fireside  brighter,  during  the 
winter  evening,  to  hear  some  exciting  story,  for  he 
knows  it  is  not  true.  Oh  !  what  a  delusion  a  mortal 
can  fall  into !  Even  if  it  does  not  materially  injure 
his  own  mind,  can  he  not  see  the  mighty  power  of 
fascination  such  idle  tales  are  throwing  around  his 
children  ?  All  other  books  are  quickly  thrown  aside 
for  the  delightful  romance.  Yea,  it  is  far  more  pleas- 
ing to  read  them  than  to  fulfill  the  necessary  duties 
of  the  day.  Often  the  hour  that  should  be  devoted 
to  such  duties  is  stolen,  and  in  some  secluded  place 
the  absorbing  story  is  consumed  by  an  enfeebled 
mind  lost  to  almost  everything  of  a  holier  nature, 
until  it  becomes  the  most  agreeable  food  it  can  swal- 
low. Yea,  it  soon  becomes  the  master  of  the  whole 
mind,  and  daily  duties  or  religious  devotions  are  al- 
most entirely  forgotten  or  neglected. 


MENTAL   CULTURE.  369 

11  Observe  a  very  common  fashion  among  young 
ladies  !  A  book  in  the  hand  is  apparently  made  to 
be  a  mark  of  intelligence  and  literary  refinement. 
In  cars,  in  by-ways,  and  on  the  street,  these  emblems 
are  held  up  to  view,  as  if  they  would  certainly  con- 
vince passers-by  of  the  notable  fact  of  their  high 
standing ;  but  did  you  ever  notice  the  character  of 
any  of  them?  It  needs  but  a  glance  over  the  shoul- 
der of  yon  fair  miss,  who  is  all  absorbed  in  her  read- 
ing, to  see  what  food  her  mind  is  taking  in.  One  of 
the  most  attractive  novels  of  the  day,  with  the  whole 
force  of  its  plans  and  devices  arranged  and  put  forth 
by  one  of  the  most  powerful  writers  is  inflaming,  to 
the  most  disastrous  extent,  that  passion  of  her  mind 
which  will  lead  her  astray.  It  matters  not  whether 
it  be  a  book  or  a  paper,  yellow-covered  or  no  cover 
at  all,  if  the  spark  is  there,  it  will  soon  set  the  whole 
soul  on  fire.  Is  it  any  wonder  there  are  so  many 
elopements  ?  Married  men  running  away  with  young 
girls ;  married  women  with  young  boys ;  husbands 
and  wives  exchanging  partners,  and  other  such  hetero- 
geneous mixtures  ?  There  is  nothing  that  will  destroy 
the  proper  balance  of  the  mind  quicker  than  the  un- 
due excitement  of  the  amorous  passions.  How 
many  there  are  who  have  almost  lost  their  individ- 
uality from  the  complete  absorption  of  the  nerve 
stimulus  of  the  body,  to  support  the  furious  flame  of 
Cupid's  kindling !  Such  intensity  of  mental  emotion 
rapidly  drains  both  strength  of  body  and  mind  until 
the  individual  is  unfit  for  the  necessary  duties  of  life, 
since  one  single  passion  has  been  fanned  into  a  gen- 
eral conflagration." 

24 


370  THE  LAW. 

These  things  are  poisoning  the  minds  of  our  youth, 
and  what  more  is  needed  to  bring  the  law  upon 
them  ?  "  But  they  make  the  papers  sell,"  is  the  cry, 
and  it  tells  a  fearful  tale  of  what  the  tastes  of  the 
people  are  becoming.  While  a  paper  of  an  honest, 
upright,  literary  and  scientific  character,  can  hardly 
be  kept  alive,  these  publications,  so  poisonous  to 
virtue  and  pure  mortals,  are  scattering  their  leaves 
over  the  country  thicker  than  the  snows  of  winter. 
Why?  Simply  because  fathers  and  mothers  buy 
them  or  allow  them  to  be  bought  for  their  children, 
and  so  'eagerly  are  they  sought  for,  that  prices  will 
be  paid  for  them  that  would  forever  sink  from  sight 
a  sheet  of  a  more  upright  character.  How  often  the 
punishment  comes  home  unawares  to  the  paternal 
head  of  the 

UNGUARDED  HOUSEHOLD! 

The  fair  daughter,  the  promising  son,  by  reading 
an  inflammable  novel  pass  completely  into  the  hands 
of  an  infuriated  passion. 

Nor  is  all  the  evil  centered  in  this  single  condition 
of  life,  for  often  the  seeds  of  discord  are  seen  spring- 
ing up  through  the  stage  of  'wedded  life.  When 
those  in  tender  youth  have  urged  themselves  forward 
so  far  as  to  have  entered  the  married  state,  having 
followed  only  the  promptings  of  a  spirit  excited  by 
the  many  fictitious  stories  read,  with  no  other  under- 
standing of  its  holy  orders,  do  we  wonder  that  there 
are  so  many  unhappy  homes,  unnatural  associations 
leading  to  runaways,  murders,  suicides,  drunkenness, 


MENTAL   CULTURE.  371 

and  the  long  list  of  evils  that  make  up  newspaper 
gossip  ?  What  does  the  young  miss  of  fifteen  or  six- 
teen know  of  the  steps  she  is  taking,  when,  all  ex- 
cited,— yes,  almost  to  insanity, — she  complacently 
receives  the  overtures  of  A.  B.  or  C,  regardless  of 
character  or  standing?  Sometimes  their  minds  are 
so  wrought  upon  that  they  would  rather  make  love 
to  a  baboon  than  none  at  all,  or  why  will  they  so 
often  forsake  caste  and  all  personal  regard,  and  elope 
with  some  inferior  servant  of  the  house?  Look  at 
these  cases  and  usually  they  are  the  ones  who  have 
lost  their  mental  balance,  and  have  been  swallowing 
love-novels  as  their  choicest  food. 

This  is  no  picture — it  is  a  simple  account  of  what 
is  every  day  occurring,  and  now  must  we  see  one  of 
the  consequences  ?  Jealousy  instigates  the  man  to 
furious  acts,  and  if  he  feels  a  fear  to  follow  the  sug- 
gestions of  the  dark  spirit  within,  the  fiend  alcohol, 
or  what  is  worse,  drugged  liquors,  are  at  hand  to 
banish  every  thought  of  fear.  The  man  may  become 
the  sot  in  the  gutters  until  buried  in  disgrace  beneath 
the  sod,  or  hanging  from  the  gallows,  a  guide-board 
in  the  highway  of  justice. 

Can  novel  reading  produce  this  ?  I  will  not 
answer  more !  I  leave  the  sketch  already  drawn  to 
speak  for  itself.  I  can  seem  to  see  the  mind  of  the 
reader  just  now  calling  up  similar  cases,  and  I  seem 
to  hear  a  silent  assent,  as  if  the  great  fact  were  far 
from  half  told. 

In  all  I  have  said  in  regard  to  the  press  I  do  not 
arraign  it  as  a  useless  thing :  by  no  means.  It  does  a 
world  of  good,  and  is  one  of  the  most  powerful 


372 


THE    LAW. 


means  we  have  to  use  in  combating  the  evils  already 
spoken  of.  Because  a  razor  or  butcher-knife  has  cut 
so  many  throats,  we  do  not  say  they  are  only  for 
evil,  for  they  admirably  fulfill  the  purposes  designed, 
and  are  harmless  when  kept  in  their  place.  So  with 
the  press.  All  stories  are  not  bad,  nor  do  all  pictures 
inflame  the  mind.  If  the  boy  plays  with  his  sun- 
glass, there  is  no  harm,  provided  he  uses  it  in  a  proper 
manner ;  but  what  would  we  say  if  we  saw  him 
drawing  a  focus  upon  a  quantity  of  powder  that 
communicated  with  a  barrelful  underneath  ?  The 
thoughts  of  a  boy  flying  in  a  thousand  pieces  in  the 
air  would  be  sufficient  to  cause  us  to  act  instantly  to 
prevent  so  sad  a  catastrophe. 

If  you  will,  call  the  mind  this  barrel  of  powder; 
the  amorous  passion  the  most  inflammable  quality  of 
all  the  compounded  ingredients ;  the  novels  the  sun- 
glass, and  the  writers  of  them  the  half-witted  boy, 
^then  the  picture  is  complete. 

In  the  proper  training  of  the  mind,  it  is  a  duty  we 
owe  to  the  rising  generation  to  close  up  by  law  every 
avenue  through  which  even  a  single  member  of  the 
human  family  is  unfavorably  effected.  All  that  comes 
within  the  social  attraction  of  a  single  infractious 
child,  man  or  woman,  in  a  neighborhood,  is  subject 
to  contamination  by  such  evil  influence.  If  the  mind 
is  pliable  as  we  have  shown,  then  why  not  give  it  the 
attention  that  you  would  the  little  sprout  of  your 
garden.  If  you  would  have  a  beautiful  tree,  you 
must  cultivate  it  in  accordance  with  the  laws  of  na- 
ture. So  in  regard  to  the  mind.  A  constant  im- 
pression must  be  made  until  the  subject  is  mastered  ; 


MENTAL   CULTURE. 


373 


then  only  will  the  child  or  adult  make  that  profi- 
ciency which  crowns  effort  with  success.  All  ex- 
cesses must  be  avoided,  and  the  laws  of  physiology 
strictly  obeyed. 

During  this  age  of  electricity, — this  newspaper 
epoch, — it  behooves  every  parent  and  teacher  to  be 
vigilant,  always  on  the  alert  to  guard *the  young  mind 
against  the  alluring  evils  of  to-day.  Let  correct 
principles  be  instilled  in  the  young  mind,  and  instead 
of  wrecked  homes,  visible  growths  of  immortal  ex- 
cellence and  moral  goodness  will  lead  the  rising  gen- 
eration on  to  glory.  That  would,  indeed  be  a  happy 
household  where  all  should  have  the  highest  motives 
to  prompt  them  to  walk  in  the  paths  of  virtue  and 
happiness.  That  home  will  not  be  a  stranger  to  the 
refinements  of  the  age;  but  poetry,  music,  stories, 
games,  etc.,  will  help  to  make  it  the  highest  type  of 
all  that  is  cheerful,  refined,  and  Christian-like.  In  it 
there  will  be  a  joy  enduring  as  eternity, — that  aris- 
ing from  a  consciousness  of  having  acted  from  pure 
motives, and  in  accordance  with  the  principles  taught 
in  the  great  book  of  nature.  "  Prepare  to  live,  and 
we  shall  be  prepared  to  die."  So  said  an  eminent 
philosopher.  Those  who  are  happy  in  life  have  the 
best  assurance  that  the  same  will  be  their  reward  in 
the  glorious  future.  It  can  not  be  that  this  earth  is 
man's  only  abiding-place.  It  can  not  be  that  life  is  a 
bubble,  cast  up  by  the  ocean  of  eternity,  to  float  for 
a  moment  on  its  waves,  and  then  sink  into  nothing- 
ness. Else  why  is  it  that  the  glorious  aspirations, 
which  leap  like  angels  from  the  temple  of  our  hearts, 
are  forever  wandering  about  unsatisfied  ?  Why  is  it 


374  THE  LAW. 

that  the  rainbow  and  the  clouds  unfold  to  us  a  beauty 
that  is  riot  of  earth,  and  then  pass  off  and  leave  us 
to  muse  upon  their  faded  loveliness  ?  Why  is  it  that 
the  stars  which  hold  their  festivals  around  the  throne 
of  chaste  Diana  are  set  so  far  above  the  grasp  of  our 
limited  faculties,  forever  mocking  us  with  their  un- 
approachable glory?  And  finally,  why  is  it  that 
the  bright  forms  of  human  beauty  are  presented  to 
our  view  but  for  a  moment,  and  then  taken  from  us, 
leaving  the  thousand  streams,  of  our  affections  to 
flow  back  with  the  turbulency  of  Alpine  torrents 
upon  our  hearts?  We  are  born  for  a  higher  destiny 
than  that  of  earth.  There  is  a  realm  where  the  stars 
will  be  spread  out  before  us  like  the  islets  that  slum- 
ber on  the  ocean ;  and  where  the  beautiful  beings 
that  here  pass  before  us  like  shadows,  will  live  in  our 
presence  forever. 

I  can  only  say  as  a  last  reflection :  Train  for  it 
the  human  mind.  A  mind  filled  with  such  glorious 

o 

hopes  will  keep  above  the  miry  slough,  and  away 
from  the  dangerous  pitfalls,  where  those  allowed  to 
play  carelessly  on  the  brink  are  on  the  way  to 
destruction. 

Happy  unbroken  household  in  Heaven !  Every 
member  a  star !  What  a  glorious  sight !  Not  a 
wail,  not  one  sound  of  sorrow,  for  a  missing,  erring 
one !  United  and  happy  in  the  expanding  glories  of 
the  transcendent  life  they  commenced  in  a  world  of 
temptation.  The  thought  should  be  sufficient  to 
stimulate  us  on  to  virtue,  to  the  proper  development 
of  the  mind,  in  order  to  secure  such  unbounded  ful- 
fillment of  joy.  The  shipwrecks  that  lie  so  thickly 


MENTAL   CULTURE.  375 

around  us  are  a  result  of  the  unfaithful  performance 
of  so  important  a  duty. 

"  O  wailings  still  the  winds  of  heaven  bear, 
And  every  hour  they  pass  some  cast  away, 
Some  foundered  ship  on  life's  unsteady  sea, 
On  billows  of  temptation  tossed,  so  fair 
As  seemed  at  first  from  every  danger  free, 
But  lost  at  last,  and  gone — we  ask  not  where  !" 

There  is  a  time  when  all  must  "  render  up  this 
earthly  clay,"  and  the  time  of  reckoning  will  surely 
come.  Let  us  not  be  deceived  on  this  matter.  Let 
us  diligently  strive  for  correct  mental  training,  for 
this  has  much  to  do  with  our  eternal  peace ;  neglected, 
it  will  be  impossible  to  remedy  the  evil  when  once 
the  day  of  probation  is  past. 

"  There  is  an  hour 

When  all  things  known  must  meet  a  final  doom ; 
And,  too,  so  sure  no  man  can  find  the  power 

To  give  delay.     Into  the  solemn  gloom 
Of  Time's  oblivious  depths,  as  darkly  swell 

Its  tides  with  all  we  love,  we,  too,  must  go, 
And  in  eternal  light  the  long  past  tell, 

Enwrapped  with  pleasure,  or  o'erwhelmed  with  woe." 


CHAPTER   XXII. 

ON     THE      LAWS     OF      PHYSICAL      CULTURE. TEMPERA- 
MENTAL    HARMONY    THE     BASIS    OF 
PHYSICAL    PERFECTION. 

"Among  the  important  topics  that  should  command  our  attention,  in  the 
course  of  human  observation,  is  a  study  of  the  temperaments." — Howard. 

"  It  is  the  law  of  formation,  that  the  development  of  any  part  of  the  body  is 
in  the  direction  of  the  vital  currents  which,  by  means  of  exercise,  are  brought  to 
bear  upon  it." — Theophile  Gautier. 

The  subject  of  temperaments  is  so  little  under- 
stood by  the  general  reader  that  I  am  persuaded  a 
chapter  devoted  to  that  subject  will  be  of  great  in- 
terest, and  assist  much  in  enacting  correct  laws  for 
the  government  of  man.  I  believe  that  every  person 
who  has  arrived  at  adult  age  should  have  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  temperaments,  at  least  so  much  as  is 
known  of  them,  and  taught  by  scientific  men.  "Bodily 
conformation,"  says  Professor  Lawrence,  "  gives  us  an 
intimation  of  the  character  of  the  individual."  As 
long  ago  as  the  days  of  Hippocrates,  human  temper- 
aments have  been  considered  by  distinguished  physi- 
ologists a  subject  of  great  moment.  Some  have 
looked  upon  the  study  as  little  more  than  a  pretty 
speculation.  "  It  is  my  conviction  that  if  it  be  a 
speculation,  all  departments  of  natural  history  and 
physiology  fall  into  the  same  category."*  My  own 

*  Professor  Powell  on  Human  Temperaments. 

376 


ON    THE    LAWS    OF    PHYSICAL   CULTURE.  377 

observations,  during  seventeen  years  of  medical  prac- 
tice, have  convinced  me,  beyond  a  doubt,  that  the 
temperament  is  as  much  a  physiological  condition  as 
life  itself,  and  that  it  indicates  to  us  the  quality  and 
tone  of  the  intellectual  capacity,  as  well  as  the  activity 
and  power,  of  the  whole  individual  organization. 

By  the  word  temperament  we  understand  a  certain 
state  of  the  constitution,  depending  upon  the  relative 
proportions  of  its  different  masses,  and  the  relative 
energy  of  its  different  functions.  Some  distinguished 
author  defines  the  temperament  as  "  that  portion  of 
us  which  we  live  the  most."  It  is  a  constitutional 
condition  with  respect  to  the  predominance  of  any 
quality  denominated  as  the  temperament  of  the  body. 
Every  condition  of  the  bodily  organization  bespeaks 
an  individual  character  which  is  peculiar,  and  when 
we  compare  man  with  the  other  animals  we  observe 
that  he  is  distinguished  by  characteristic  features 
which  do  not  permit  us  for  a  moment  to  confound 
him  with  any  of  them;  so  when  we  compare  man 
with  man  we  are  struck  by  the  no  less  obvious  fact 
that  there  exist  between  individuals  differences 
analogous  to  those  which  mark  the  different  species. 
One  is  tall  and  muscular  ;  another,  small  and  plump; 
a  third,  small  and  slender.  We  observe  also  that  the 
functions  of  life  are  not  performed  in  all  with  the 
same  degree  of  force  or  rapidity,  and  that  their  likes 
and  dislikes  have  neither  the  same  direction  nor  an 
equal  intensity.  These  differences  are  the  results 
and  indications  of  what  we  call  temperament,  which 
has  already  been  defined. 


378  THE    LAW. 

I.  will  not  stop  to  notice  the  old 

CLASSIFICATIONS 

of  temperaments,  as  given  by  Hippocrates,  George 
Combe,  Powell,  and  others,  but  mainly  give  the 
reader  the  latest  and  most  scientific  classification,  as 
recognized  at  the  present  day  by  our  best  physiolo- 
gists. The  temperaments  are  presented  for  our 
examination  as  existing  in  a  variety  of  forms,  and  in 
different  degrees  of  development ;  numerous  and 
varied  as  the  individuals  of  the  race,  no  two  persons 
being  found  with  precisely  the  same  physical  consti- 
tution. Tracing  them  back  to  their  simpler  forms, 
however,  we  shall  find  them  all  to  result  from  the 
almost  infinite  combinations  of  a  few  simple  elements, 

To  facilitate  our  study  of  the  temperaments,  and 
to  make  my  explanation  comprehensible  to  the  reader, 
I  shall  here  devote  a  few  pages  to  the  structure  of 
the  human  body. 

From  a  classification  of  the  natural  system  of 
anatomy,  we  are  enabled  to  derive  a  clear  idea  of  the 
temperaments.  In  this,  I  am  largely  indebted  to 
Professors  Jacques,  Wells,  Walker,  Florence,  Wilson, 
and  others,  whose  systems  of  classification  I  regard 
as  the  most  scientific  ever  given  to  the  world. 

The  human  body  consists  of  three  grand  classes 
or  systems  of  organs,  each  of  which  has  its  special 
function  in  the  general  economy.  They  are  denom- 
inated : 

1.  The  Motive  or  Mechanical  system  ; 

2.  The  Vital  or  Nutritive  system  ; 

3.  The  Mental  or  Nervous  system. 


ON    THE    LAWS   OF    PHYSICAL   CULTURE.  379 

These  three  systems,  each  naturally  sub-dividing 
into  several  branches,  include  all  the  organs,  and  per- 
form all  the  complicated  functions  of  the  physical 
man. 

THE  MOTIVE, 

or  mechanical  system,  consists  of  three  sets  of  or- 
gans, forming,  in  combination,  an  apparatus  of  levers, 
through  which  locomotion  and  all  the  larger  move- 
ments of  the  body  are  effected.  They  are  :  the  bones, 
the  ligaments,  and  the  muscles. 

The  bones  form  the  framework  of  the  body.  They 
are  primarily  organs  of  support,  sustaining  and  giving 
solidity  to  every  part. 

The  ligaments  help  to  form  the  joints,  and  are 
properly  called  organs  of  connection.  Their  strength 
and  toughness  is  so  great,  that  it  is  hardly  possible, 
by  means  of  any  ordinary  force,  to  tear  them  asunder. 
"  It  is  wonderful,"  a  late  medical  publication  says,  "to 
see  how  admirably  the  ligaments  are  arranged  to 
answer  the  purposes  for  which  they  are  intended !" 
Where  the  ends  of  two  bones  meet,  as  in  some  of  the 
joints,  ligaments  pass  across  from  one  to  the  other; 
and  so  firm  are  they  in  their  structure,  that  they 
never  allow  the  joint  to  become  loose,  however  much 
it  may  be  exercised.  The  provision  for  keeping  the 
joints  constantly  oiled,  so  that  they  never  wear  out, 
and  are  never  injured  in  any  way  by  friction,  is  not 
less  wonderful  or  less  efficacious  than  the  arrangement 
by  which  they  are  held  together. 

The  muscles  are  simply  bundles  of  red  flesh,  grow- 


380  THE    LAW. 

ing  tougher  and  more  compact  toward  the  extremi- 
ties, by  which*  they  are  attached  to  the  bone,  and 
terminating  in  white  tendons  or  cords.  The  muscles 
are,  par  excellence,  the  organs  of  motion.  It  is  by 
means  of  them  that  the  indwelling  mind,  telegraph- 
ing its  mandates  through  the  appropriate  nerves, 
effects  any  desired  movement,  by  causing  a  contrac- 
tion of  the  fibers  of  which  they  are  composed,  thus 
drawing  the  parts  to  which  they  are  attached  toward 
each  other.  They  present  a  great  variety  of  forms, 
and  are  of  all  lengths,  from  a  fourth  of  an  inch,  as  in 
some  of  the  muscles  of  the  larynx,  to  three  feet,  as 
in  the  sartorius,  or  tailor's  muscle,  which  is  used  in 
crossing  the  leg.  The  muscular  system,  in  its  devel- 
opment and  organic  condition,  is  more  completely 
under  our  control  than  any  other  part  of  the  body, — 
a  circumstance  of  vast  importance  in  connection  with 
the  subject  of  human  physical  perfectibility. 

THE  VITAL 

or  nutritive  system,  consists  of  three  classes  of  or- 
gans, forming  a  complicated  apparatus  of  tubes, 
which  perform  the  functions  of  absorption,  circula- 
tion, and  secretion,  and  incidentally  of  purification. 
Their  principal  seat  is  the  trunk  of  the  body,  and 
they  exercise  a  minute  peristaltic  or  pulsatory  motion. 
They  are  designated  as :  the  lymphatics,  the  blood- 
vessels, and  the  glands. 

The  lymphatics  are  small,  transparent  tubes,  fur- 
nished with  valves  at  short  intervals,  and  connected 
with  the  ganglia  or  glands  which  are  distributed  over 


ON    THE    LAWS    OF    PHYSICAL   CULTURE.  381 

the  body,  but  are  most  numerous  on  the  sides  of  the 
neck,  the  armpits,  the  groins,  and  the  mesenteric  folds 
of  the  intestines.  Their  office  is  to  absorb  nutriment 
and  pass  it  into  the  circulation.  They  convey  the 
lymph  from  every  part  of  the  system  to  the  descend- 
ing vena  cava,  where  it  mixes  with  the  venous  blood 
returning  to  the  heart. 

That  all-important  function,  the  circulation  of  the 
blood,  is  effected  by  means  of  a  system  of  tubes,  or, 
rather,  two  interwoven  systems  of  tubes,  which  carry 
it  to  every  part  of  the  body,  and  then  return  it  to 
the  center  of  circulation.  This  center  of  circulation 
is  the  heart,  a  muscular  organ,  situated  in  the  lower 
part  of  the  thoracic  cavity,  between  the  two  folds  of 
the  pleura  which  form  the  central  partition  of  the 
chest. 

The  glands,  or  filters,  are  the  organs  which  secrete 
or  deposit  not  only  the  various  substances  of  which 
the  different  organs  are  composed,  but  the  fat,  milk, 
hair,  and  other  animal  products.  They  are  composed 
of  two  sets  of  capillary  vessels,  the  one  for  the  circu- 
lation of  the  arterial  blood,  and  the  other  for  secret- 
ing their  proper  materials.  The  lungs,  stomach, 
intestines,  reproductive  organs,  and  especially  the 
liver,  are  mainly  glandular  in  structure  and  function, 
and  so  far  are  included  in  this  system. 

The  lungs  present  to  the  view  a  spongy  mass, 
made  up  of  air-tubes,  air-cells,  and  blood-vessels,  all 
bound  together  by  a  cellular  tissue.  Of  the  air-cells 
there  are  many  millions ;  and  the  internal  surface 
presented  by  the  combined  air-cells  and  air-tubes  is 
probably  more  than  ten  times  the  external  surface  of 


382  THE    LAW. 

the  body.  Around  each  of  these  minute  cells  is 
woven  a  net-work  of  hair-like  tubes,  through  which 
come  and  go  the  venous  and  arterial  blood.  It  is 
through  the  coats  of  these  that  the  air  acts  upon  and 
vitalizes  the  blood,  giving  it  oxygen  and  receiving 
carbonic  acid  in  return. 

The  liver  is  the  largest  gland  in  the  body.  And 
its  office  is  to  secrete  bile  from  the  blood,  which  is 
poured  from  the  gall-bladder  into  the  duodenum  a 
few  inches  below  the  stomach. 

THE  STOMACH 

is  a  musculo-membraneous  reservoir,  continuous  on 
the  one  side  with  the  esophagus,  and  on  the  other 
with  the  duodenum.  It  is  situated  beneath  the  dia- 
phragm, liver,  and  spleen,  and  occupies  the  epigas- 
trium and  a  part  of  the  hypochondrium.  Its  office 
is  to  convert  the  food  into  chyme. 

The  intestines,  or  bowels,  comprise  the  duodenum, 
or  second  stomach,  the  jejunum,  and  ileum,  which 
collectively  are  called  the  small  intestine,  the  ccecum, 
the  colon,  and  the  rectum.  The  duodenum,  or  second 
stomach,  leads  from  the  pyloric  orifice  of  the  stom- 
ach to  the  jejunum.  Its  length  is  about  twelve  fin- 
gers' breadth,  and  hence  its  name.  The  jejunum,  so 
called  from  being  generally  found  empty,  forms  the 
upper  two-fifths  of  the  small  intestine,  leading  from 
the  duodenum  to  the  ileum.  The  ileum,  which  signi- 
fies to  twist  or  convolute,  forms  the  remaining  three- 
fifths  of  the  small  intestine,  ending  in  the  colon.  It 
is  smaller,  paler,  and  thinner  than  the  jejunum. 


ON    THE    LAWS    OF    PHYSICAL   CULTURE.  383 

The  kidneys  are  hard,  glandular  bodies,  lying  on 
each  side  of  the  spine  near  the  last  ribs.  The  office 
of  the  kidneys  is  to  separate  the  urine  from  the 
blood  and  convey  it  into  the  bladder,  by  means  of 
its  long  tubes  called  ureters. 

The  spleen  is  also  a  glandular  body,  and  is  situated 
at  the  left  of  the  stomach.  Its  function  is  not  well 
known.  The  intimate  relation  and  sympathy  between 
the  glands  and  the  brain  give  rise  to  some  singular 
phenomena,  as  will  be  seen  further  on. 

THE  MENTAL  SYSTEM. 

It  is  by  means  of  this  system  that  sense,  thought, 
and  impulse  to  action,  and  consequently  all  connec- 
tion between  the  soul  and  the  external  world,  takes 
place.  It  consists  of  a  series  of  globules,  bound  by 
membraneous  investments  into  fibers  of  various 
forms,  the  motion  of  which  is  invisible.  The  chief 
seat  of  this  system  is  the  head.  It  admits,  like  the 
other  systems,  of  a  division  into  three  orders  of 
organs : 

1.  THE  ORGANS  OF  SENSE. — These  are  the  organs 
through  which  we  receive  impressions  from  external 
objects.* 

2.  THE    CEREBRUM. — The  human  brain,  speaking 
of  it  as  a  whole,  is  an  oval  mass  filling  and  fitting  the 
interior  of  the  skull,  and  consists  of  two  substances 
— a  gray,  ash-colored,  or  cincriterous  portion,  and  a 
white,  fibrous,  or  medullary  portion.     It  is  divided, 

*  See  author's  work  on  the  Human  Five  Senses. 


THE    LAW. 

both  in  form  and  in  function,  into  two  principal 
masses,  called  the  cerebrum  and  the  cerebellum.  At 
its  base  there  are  two  other  portions,  called  the 
annular  protuberance  and  the  medulla  oblongata. 
The  cerebrum  is  the  organ  of  perception,  reflection, 
and  all  the  other  essentially  human  faculties  and  sen- 
timents. 

3.  THE  CEREBELLUM. — The  cerebellum  is  the  or- 
gan of  permanent  action  and  of  physical  life.  It  lies 
behind  and  immediately  underneath  the  cerebrum, 
and  is  about  one-eight  the  size  of  the  latter  organ. 
There  are  generally  reckoned  eleven  pairs  of  nerves 
arising  from  the  brain,  and  thirty-one  from  the  spinal 
marrow.  It  is  thus  seen  that  the  whole  nervous  ap- 
paratus is  included  in  the  mental  system,  as  we  have 
defined  it,  and  that  the  brain  is  omnipresent  in  the 
human  body. 

With  these  briefly  stated  facts,  which  form  the  out- 
lines of  the  system  of  anatomy,  the  reader  will  be 
measurably  prepared  to  read  with  profit  what  is  to 
follow.  Those  who  have  access  to  anatomical  and 
physiological  works,  and  leisure  for  their  study  will 
do  well  to  pursue  the  subject  further. 

In  the  natural  system  of  anatomy,  the  outlines  of 
which  we  have  just  briefly  given,  it  is  shown  that  the 
human  body  is  composed  of  three  grand  classes  or 
systems  of  organs,  each  of  which  has  its  special 
function  in  the  general  economy.  We  have  denomi- 
nated them,  the  motive  or  mechanical  system,  the 
vital  or  nutritive  system,  and  the  mental  or  nervous 
system.  On  this  basis  rests  the  true  doctrine  of  the 


ON    THE    LAWS    OF    PHYSICAL   CULTURE.  385 

temperaments,  of  which  there  are  primarily  three, 
corresponding  with  the  three  systems  of  organs  just 
named.  We  shall  call  them, — 

1.  The  Motive  temperament; 

2.  The  Vital  temperament ; 

3.  The  Mental  temperament. 

It  is  the  predominance  of  the  class  of  organs  from 
which  it  takes  its  name  that  determines  each  of  these 
temperaments.  Thus  the  first  is  marked  by  a  supe- 
rior development  of  the  osseous  and  muscular  sys- 
tems forming  the  locomotive  apparatus ;  in  the 
second,  the  vital  organs,  the  principal  seat  of  which 
is  in  the  trunk,  give  the  tone  to  the  organization  ; 
and  in  the  third,  the  brain  and  nervous  system  exerts 
the  controling  power. 

The  simple  or  primary  temperaments  are,  however, 
practically,  little  better  than,  abstractions;  but  they 
serve  as  points  of  departure  from  which  to  arrive  at 
their  various  combinations. 

THE  MOTIVE  TEMPERAMENT. 

The  bony  frame  work  of  the  human  body  deter- 
mines its  general  configuration,  which  is  modified  in 
its  details  by  the  muscular  fibers  and  cellular  tissues 
which  overlay  them.  In  the  motive  temperament 
the  bones  are  proportionately  large,  and  generally 
long,  rather  than  broad,  and  the  outlines  of  the  form 
manifest  a  tendency  to  angularity.  The  muscles  are 
well  developed,  but  only  moderately  rounded,  and 
.correspond  in  form  with  the  bones.  The  figure  is 
commonly  tall,  elegant,  and  striking ;  the  face  oblong ; 

25 


386  THE    LAW. 

the  neck  rather  long ;  the  shoulders  broad  and  defi- 
nite ;  the  chest  moderate  in  size  and  fullness;  the 
abdomen  proportional ;  and  the  limbs  long  and  taper- 
ing. The  complexion  and  eyes  are  generally,  but 
not  always,  dark ;  the  hair  dark,  strong,  and  abun- 
dant. Firmness  of  texture  characterizes  all  the  or- 
gans, imparting  great  strength  and  endurance.  Men 
of  this  temperament  are  naturally  vigorous,  active, 
energetic,  and  impassioned,  and  possess  strongly 
marked,  if  not  idiosyncratic,  characters.  They  man- 
ifest great  capacity  for  conception,  and  are  constantly 
carried  away,  bearing  others  with  them,  by  the  tor- 
rent of  their  imaginations  and  passions.  They  are 
leaders,  rulers,  and  conquerors  in  the  sphere  in  which 
they  move.  This  is  the  temperament  for  rare  talents, 
great  works,  great  errors,  great  faults,  and  great 
crimes."55'  An  abnormal  development  of  the  motive 
temperament,  in  which  both  the  vital  and  the  mental 
systems  are  sacrificed  to  mere  animal  strength,  forms 
what  the  ancients  called  the  athletic  temperament. 
It  is  marked  by  a  head  proportionately  small,  espe- 
cially in  the  coronal  region ;  a  thick  neck ;  broad 
shoulders ;  expanded  chest ;  and  strongly  marked 
muscles,  the  tendons  of  which  are  apparent  through 
the  skin.  The  Farnese  Hercules  furnishes  a  model 
of  the  physical  attributes  of  the  abnormal  constitu- 
tion, in  which  brute  force  usurps  the  energies  neces- 
sary to  the  production  of  thought,  and  leaves  its 
possessor  decidedly  deficient  in  all  the  higher  mental 
manifestations.  This  temperament  does  not  occur  in 
women. 


*  Cabanis. 


ON    THE    LAWS   OF    PHYSICAL   CULTURE.  387 

THE  VITAL  TEMPERAMENT. 

• 

As  this  temperament  depends  upon  the  predomi- 
nance of  the  vital  or  nutritive  organs,  which  occupy 
the  great  cavities  of  the  trunk,  it  is  necessarily  marked 
by  a  breadth  and  thickness  of  body  proportionately 
greater,  and  a  stature  and  size  of  limbs  proportion- 
ately less  than  in  the  motive  temperament.  Its  most 
striking  physical  characteristic  is  rotundity  or  plump- 
ness. The  face  inclines  to  roundness ;  the  neck  is 
rather  short ;  the  shoulders  broad  and  round ;  the 
chest  full ;  the  abdomen  well  developed ;  the  arms 
and  legs  plump,  but  tapering  and  delicate,  and  ter- 
minating in  hands  and  feet  relatively  small.  The 
complexion  is  generally  rather  florid;  the  counten- 
ance smiling ;  the  eyes  blue ;  and  the  hair  soft,  light, 
and  abundant.  Persons  of  this  temperament  are 
characterized  mentally  by  activity,  ardor,  impulsive- 
ness, enthusiasm,  versatility,  and  sometimes  by  fick- 
leness. They  have  more  elasticity  than  firmness, 
more  diligence  than  persistence,  more  brilliancy  than 
depth.  They  are  frequently  violent  and  passionate, 
but  as  easily  calmed  as  excited  ;  are  generally  cheer- 
ful and  amiable,  and  almost  always  very  companion- 
able and  fond  of  good  living.  An  undue  and  abnor- 
mal preponderance  of  the  absorbent  system,  and  a 
sluggish  action  of  the  circulatory,  give  rise  to  what 
has  been  called  the  lymphatic  temperament,  which 
presents  forms  even  more  rounded  and  softer  than 
those  we  have  been  describing,  but  lacking  their 
well-defined  and  graceful  outlines.  A  feebler  color  of 
the  skin,  a  lack  of  expression  in  the  countenance,  in- 


388  THE   LAW. 

surmountable  sloth,  and  a  general  weakness  and 
apathy,  both  of  body  and  mind,  characterize  this 
state  of  the  system,  which  is  so  evidently  the  result 
of  disease  that  we  see  no  propriety  in  setting  it 
down  as  one  of  the  natural  temperaments.  When 
perfect  health  shall  have  become  universal,  we  shall 
have  no  lymphatic  people,  and  no  lazy  ones. 

THE  MENTAL  TEMPERAMENT. 

This  temperament,  depending  upon  the  predomin- 
ance of  the  brain  and  nervous  system,  is  characterized 
by  a  slight  frame,  and  a  head  relatively  large  and  of 
a  pyriform  appearance.  The  face  is  generally  oval ; 
the  forehead  high  and  pale  ;  the  features  delicate  and 
finely  chiseled ;  the  eye  bright  and  expressive ;  the 
hair  fine,  soft,  not  abundant,  and  commonly  of  a  light 
color ;  the  neck  slender ;  the  chest  rather  narrow ; 
the  limbs  small ;  and  the  whole  figure  delicate  and 
graceful  rather  than  striking  or  elegant.  In  persons 
of  the  mental  temperament,  the  brain  and  the  ner- 
vous system  are  active,  the  thoughts  quick,  the  senses 
acute,  and  the  imagination  lively  and  brilliant.  It  is 
the  literary  and  artistic,  especially  the  poetic  temper- 
ament, of  which  Byron,  Shelley,  Keats,  and  Poe,  fur- 
nish good  examples.  There  is  at  the  present  day, 
and  in  this  country,  an  excessive  and  morbid  devel- 
opment of  this  temperament,  especially  among  women 
(to  whom,  in  even  its  normal  predominance,  it  is  less 
proper  than  the  preceeding),  which  is  most  inimical 
to  health,  longevity,  and  happiness.  It  answers  to 
the  nervous  temperament  of  old  classification,  and  is 


ON    THE    LAWS    OF    PHYSICAL   CULTURE.  389 

characterized  by  the  smallness  and  emaciation  of  the 
muscles,  the  quickness  and  intensity  of  the  sensations, 
the  suddenness  and  fickleness  of  the  determinations, 
and  a  morbid  impressibility.  It  is  caused  by  seden- 
tary habits,  lack  of  exercise,  and  a  false  system  of 
education,  inducing  a  premature  and  disproportionate 
development  of  the  brain  ;  the  immoderate  use  of 
tea,  coffee,  and  tobaco,  and  habits  of  sensual  indul- 
gence. We  shall  show  farther  on  how  this  state  of 
the  system  may  be  prevented,  or,  if  already  existing, 
remedied,  at  least. 

The  three  primary  temperaments,  combining  with 
each  other  in  different  proportions,  and  being  modi- 
fied by  various  causes,  form  sub-temperaments  innu- 
merable, presenting  differences  and  resemblances 
depending  upon  the  relative  proportions  of  the  prim- 
itive elements.  The  simplest  combinations  of  which 
the  three  primary  temperaments  are  susceptible  give 
us  six  sub-temperaments,  which  may  be  designated  as : 

1.  The  Motive-Vital  temperament; 

2.  The  Motive-Mental  temperament ; 

3.  The  Vital-Motive  temperament ; 

4.  The  Vital-Mental  temperament ; 

5.  The  Mental-Motive  temperament ; 

6.  The  Mental-Vital  temperament. 

The  names  of  these  compound  temperaments  suf- 
ficiently indicate  their  character.  The  motive-vital 
and  the  vital-motive  differ  but  slightly,— the  name 
placed  first  in  either  case  indicating  the  clement 
which  exists  in  the  larger  proportion.  The  same  re- 
mark applies  to  the  motive-mental  and  the  mental- 
motive,  and  to  the  vital-mental  and  the  mental-vital. 


390 


THE    LAW. 


It  is  evident  that  perfection  of  constitution  must 
consist  in  a  proper  balance  of  temperaments.  If  any 
one  of  them  exists  in  great  excess,  the  result  is  nec- 
essarily a  departure  from  symmetry  and  harmony,  both 
of  form  and  character.  Whatever,  therefore,  has  a 
tendency  to  promote  the  disproportionate  develop- 
ment of  either  of  them,  should  be  carefully  avoided. 
Each  person  is  born  with  a  particular  tempera- 
ment, which  there  is  an  inherent  tendency  to  maintain 
and  increase,  since  it  gives  rise  to  habits  which  exer- 
cise and  develop  it;  but  this  tendency  may  be 
counteracted  and  changed  entirely  by  external  cir- 
cumstances,— by  education,  occupation,  superinduced 
habits,  climate,  etc., — and  more  particularly  by  special 
training  instituted  for  that  purpose.  George  Combe, 
in  one  of  his  valuable  works,  points  out  the  important 
changes  produced  in  the  temperament  by  a  continued 
course  of  training.  "  It  is  common,"  he  says, "for  the 
bilious  (motive)  to  be  changed  into  the  nervous 
(mental)  temperament  by  habits  of  mental  activity 
and  close  study ;  and  on  the  other  hand,  we  often  see 
the  nervous  or  bilious  changed  into  the  lymphatic 
(vital)  about  the  age  of  forty,  when  the  nutritive 
system  seems  to  acquire  the  preponderance."  Spurz- 
hiem  was  accustomed  to  say  that  he  had  originally  a 
large  portion  of  the  lymphatic  temperament,  as  had 
all  his  family ;  but  that  in  himself  the  lymphatic  had 
gradually  diminished,  and  the  nervous  increased; 
whereas,  in  his  sisters,  owing  to  mental  inactivity,  the 
reverse  had  happened,  and  when  he  visited  them, 
after  being  absent  many  years,  he  found  them,  to  use 
his  own  expression,  "  as  large  as  tuns."* 

*  Hints  toward  Physical  Perfection. 


ON    THE    LAWS    OF    PHYSICAL    CULTURE.*  39! 

To  cultivate  or  to  restrain  the  temperaments  accord- 
ing as  they  are  deficient  or  in  excess,  is  a  matter  of 
great  importance,  and,  to  assist  our  readers,  I  give 
here  a  few  rules  which,  if  persevered  in,  will  accom- 
plish the  desired  end  and,  other  things  being  equal, 
lead  to  health  and  happiness. 

If  the  vital  temperament  is  found  to  be  deficient, 
the  first  thing  to  be  done  is  to  strengthen  all  the 
organs  of  vitality.  The  lungs  should  receive  daily 
exercise,  by  a  special  effort  to  expand  them  by  breath- 
ing clear  up  full  at  every  inspiration,  and  empty  them 
well  out  at  every  expiration.  This  will  aid  also  in 
the  circulation  of  the  blood,  in  the  digestion  of  the 
food,  banish  sadness,  and  create  a  buoyancy  which 
will  make  life  a  glorious  holiday  instead  of  a  weary 
drudgery.  "Away  with  melancholy."  Avoid  all 
gloomy  associations.  Alternate  rest  and  sleep  with 
exercise.  You  should  watch  and  follow  your  intuition 
or  instinct,  and  if  you  feel  a  special  craving  for  any 
kind  of  food  or  pleasure,  indulge  it.  Especially  be 
regular  in  sleep,  exercise,  eating,  and  all  the  vital 
functions,  as  well  as  temperate  in  all  things ;  and, 
above  all,  keep  your  mind  toned  up  to  sustain  the 
body. 

To  restrain  this  temperament,  practice  rules  oppo- 
site to  those  which  are  required  to  cultivate  it.  Those 
who  manufacture  vitality  faster  than  they  expend  it 
are  large  in  the  abdomen  ;  too  corpulent,  too  slug- 
gish, to  expend  vitality  as  fast  as  it  accumulates,  and 
hence  should  work — work  early  and  late,  and  with  all 
their  might,  and,  as  much  as  possible,  with  their 
muscles,  and  out  of  doors  ;  should  eat  sparingly,  and 


392  THE    LAW. 

of  simple  food;  avoid  rich  gravies,  butter,  sweets, 
fat,  and  pastry,  but  live  much  on  fruits ;  sleep  little  ; 
keep  all  the  excretory  organs  free  and  open  by  a 
laxative  diet,  and  especially  the  skin  by  frequent 
ablutions — the  hot-bath,  etc.  Fleshy  persons,  espe- 
cially females,  never  should  give  up  to  indolence,  for 
this  will  end  in  disease  and  insanity,- — never  should 
lounge  in  a  rocking-chair  or  in  bed.  "What  is 
wanted,"  says  an  author,  "  is  to  do, — not  to  loiter 
around."  Inertia  is  your  bane,  and  action  your  cure. 

To  cultivate  the  motive  temperament,  take  all  the 
muscular  exercise  you  can  endure.  Make  yourself 
comfortably  tired  every  day.  Choose  that  kind  of 
exercise  most  agreeable,  but  practice  some  kind 
assiduously.  Dance  more  and  sit  less. 

To  restrain,  use  your  muscles  less,  and  brain  more. 

To  cultivate  a  deficient  mental  development,  it  is 
well  to  exercise  the  mind  more  than  the  body;  to 
read  much ;  attend  lectures,  church,  debating  socie- 
ties, commit  to  memory  each  day  a  verse  or  more, 
and  cultivate  the  intellectual  faculties  by  making 
daily  observation,  and  trying  to  remember  what  is 
learned  each  day.  Think  over  your  experience,  as 
thus  you  will  strengthen  the  mind  and  create  a  bal- 
ance between  the  mind  and  body. 

Where  an  excessive  mental  development  exists,  to 
restrain  it,  exercise  the  body  more  than  the  mind. 

In  the  study  of  the  human  temperaments,  you 
must  make 

DAILY  OBSERVATION 

and  learn  something  of  every  person  with  whom  you 


ON    THE    LAWS    OF    PHYSICAL   CULTURE.  393 

meet.  After  you  have  mastered  the  first  part  of  this 
chapter,  you  will  be  enabled,  by  and  by,  to  recognize 
any  complication  of  the  temperaments.  All  that  is 
necessary,  is  to  be  able  to  define  the  predominating 
quality,  or  discern  which  of  the  different  systems 
has  the  controling  power,  and  you  have  a  sure  index 
to  character.  Of  course  a  knowledge  of  the  shape 
of  the  head  and  the  physiognomical  developments 
will  help  you  to  form  a  correct  idea  of  the  tempera- 
ment. By  the  bodily  conditions  we  can  read  charac- 
ter more  correctly  than  by  phrenological  or  physiog- 
nomical science  alone. ! 

I  will  now  consider  temperamental  condition  when 
variously  compounded.  It  is  a  demonstrable  fact 
that  a  good,  well-balanced  body  is  requisite  to  a  cor- 
respondingly well-balanced  mind.  "  The  worst  of 
souls  is  the  better  for  being  in  the  best  of  bodies," 
says  St.  Augustine.  No  one  can  cultivate  the  body 
otherwise  than  by  the  strict  observance  of  the  laws 
of  physiology,  and  in  this  it  is  impossible  to  avoid 
moral  impressions.  No  inference  to  the  prejudice  of 
moral  order  can  be  drawn  from  this,  "  because,"  says 
a  writer,  "the  marked  and  regular  development  of 
the  understanding  almost  inevitably  carries  with  it 
an  elevated  moral  character ;"  virtue  and  intelligence 
are  vigorously  synonymous.  I  believe  the  soul  to 
live  in  all  parts  of  the  body.  It  is  omnipresent,  like 
the  blood,  the  nervous  system,  the  life,  or  matter  it- 
self. 

That  the  mind  operates  through  certain  physical 
organs  of  the  brain,  and  that  there  are  as  many 
diverse  moral  qualities  as  there  are  organs  of  the 


394  THE  LAW- 

brain,  is  a  physiological  absurdity ;  though  the  mind 
is  made  up  of  many  different  faculties  most  utterly  un- 
like. We  may  search  among  the  protuberances  of  the 
skull  for  ages,  and  we  are  still  ignorant  of  the  won- 
drous working  of  the  soul  within.  A  general  outline 
of  the  contour  is  the  only  reliable  data  from  which 
we  can  derive  a  correct  idea  of  the  nature  and  char- 
acter of  the  individual  .  The  peculiarities  common 
to  certain  temperamental  conditions  of  an  individual, 
have  been  determined  by  long  observation,  and  have 
almost  been  reduced  to  a  certain  science.  The  men- 
tal temperament  is  perhaps  the  most  desirable,  other 
things  being  equal,  which  gives  a 

DELICATE   SUSCEPTIBILITY 

to  vivid  and  strong  impressions,  rapidity  of  concep- 
tion, retentive  memory,  capacity  for  profound  atten- 
tion, clear  and  sound  judgment,  bold  and  fertile 
imagination.  These  are  the  characteristics  of  a  vast 
intellect ;  and  such  is,  perhaps,  the  standard  measure 
of  a  superior  man. 

THE  PRINCIPAL  NERVE  CENTRES. 

Now  these  traits,  which  compose  the  three  fold 
capacity  of  feeling,  knowing,  and  expressing,  are 
allied  with  a  highly  susceptible,  active,  and  energetic 
nervous  system.  A  preponderance  of  this  system 
may  co-exist  with  a  preponderance  in  the  vascular, 
or  any  other  organic  apparatus,  and  in  proportions 
infinitely  varied  in  the  scale  of  organic  energy. 


ON    THE    LAWS    OF    PHYSICAL   CULTURE.  395 

It  is  then  in  these  constitutional  differences  that 
we  must  seek  for  the  origin  of  moral  inclinations,  of 
talents  and  faculties,  and  not  exclusively  in  this  or 
that  partial  or  isolated  development  of  the  brain ; 
although  the  influence  of  this,  among  all  the  organs, 
is  most  direct  upon  the  mind. 

It  is  of  great  importance  to  study  these  constitu- 
tional differences  early,  if  we  would  give  to  the  moral 
and  intellectual  faculties  a  direction  accordant  with 
the  aims  of  nature.  A  man  of  genius,  who  puts  his 
heart  and  soul  into  what  he  creates,  obeys  uncon- 
sciously the  impulse  of  organic  tendencies;  and  in 
this  sense  he  is  always  himself.  "  Let  us  not  force 
our  talent,"  said  the  Fabulist ;  and  this  principle  of 
the  purest  taste  is  at  the  same  time  the  exact  expres- 
sion of  a  physiologic  truth. 

These  different  constitutions  are  modified  by  age, 
habit,  and  disease.  We  observe  a  corresponding 
variation  in  the  faculties  of  the  mind,  and  the  talents 
that  spring  from  them.  Life  is  short,  but  the  life  of 
talent  is  still  more  brief.  As  we  have  remarked,  an 
author's  age  is  recognized  by  the  quality  of  the  pro- 
ductions of  his  pen.  Who  does  not  understand  what 
is  meant  by  the  "good  time"  of  the  artist  ?  But  this 
period  of  his  life  is  more  or  less  limited.  It  is  not 
given  to  every  one  to  say,  as  did  Necker  to  Suard 
"  How  fine  for  literary  labor  is  the  age  of  seventy 
years !" 

As  it  is  beyond  question  that  the  predominance  of 
the  nervous  element,  with  a  greater  or  less  diminution 
of  the  contractility,  is  the  special  characteristic  of  the 
temperament  of  celebrated  men,  it  will  not  be  amiss 


396  THE    LAW. 

to  consider  its  principal  agents.  The  nervous  system 
is  one.  It  confines  and  interlocks  the  several  parts 
of  the  corporeal  organism  in  a  vast  net-work  of  sym- 
pathetic irradiations  ;  yet,  anatomically  considered, 
it  consists  of  several  divisions.  Physiologists  agree 
in  distinguishing  at  least  two.  The  first,  known 
under  the  name  of  ganglionic,  nervous,  or  visceral 
apparatus,  has  its  real  seat  in  the  viscera,  and  its 
centre  in  the  epigastrium.  The  second  is  the  cerebro- 
spinal  apparatus.  It  is  upon  the  nervous,  visceral,  or 
splanchnis  apparatus  that  the  excitations  of  the 
brain  take  effect.  It  first  receives  and  transmits 
them  to  the  viscera.  In  its  turn  it  re-acts  upon  the 
brain  by  perceptions  frequently  dull  and  confused, 
but  at  times  so  vivid,  energetic,  and  engrossing,  as  to 
involve  that  organ  itself  in  the  re-action.  It  is  to 
this  division  of  the  nervous  system  that  physiologists 
ancient  and  modern,  with  the  exception  of  Gall,  have 
assigned  the  instinctive  impulses,  the  affections  and 
spasms.  Their  doctrine  has  been :  Man  knows  and 
judges  through  the  brain' :  he  hates  or  loves  with  the 
nervous  visceral  apparatus. 

Whatever  may  be  true  of  this  opinion,  in  our  day 
combated  with  more  or  less  success,  it  is  always 
true,  on  the  one  hand,  that  impressions  made  upon 
the  brain  pass  with  such  rapidity  to  the  viscera,  that 
it  is  impossible  to  appreciate  the  time  of  the  transi- 
tion ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  that  active  stimuli  and 
an  extreme  and  sometimes  morbid  visceral  sensibility 
have  a  direct  and  positive  effect  upon  the  brain,  par- 
ticularly when  certain  emotions  of  the  soul  are  called 
out.  To  have  "bowels  of  compassion"  is  not,  then,  a 


ON    THE    LAWS   OF    PHYSICAL   CULTURE.          397 

simple  metaphorical  expression  ;  and  when  La  Roche- 
focauld  said  that  the  head  is  often  the  dupe  of  the 
heart,  he  stated  a  physical  fact  as  well  as  a  moral 
truth, — a  truth  all  the  more  exact  and  profound,  as  it 
has  its  root  in  the  physical  organization  itself. 

The  cerebro-spinal  nervous  apparatus  consists  of 
that  mass  which  fills  the  whole  cranium  and  extends 
through  the  vertebral  canal.  This  is,  in  truth,  the 
sole  nervous  centre.  It  animates  and  vivifies  every 
portion  of  the  body.  It  is  everywhere  present  and 
active,  by  means  of  the  forty-two  pairs  of  nerves 
which  issue  from  it.  In  it  terminate  all  the  impres- 
sions produced  upon  the  extremities  of  the  nerves 
in  all  their  ramifications,  and  from  it  depart  all  the 
innumerable  decisions  that  originate  in  the  brain. 
Excited  by  the  energy  of  the  cerebral  influx,  the 
functions  of  the  body  are  executed,  and  the  organism 
lives  and  moves.  Thence  springs  our  health  and  dis- 
ease, our  pains  and  pleasures,  our  existence  and  our 
end. 

Whoever  gazes  for  the  first  time  upon  the  brain, 
after  the  removal  of  the  bony  covering,  can  not  but 
experience  a  lively  emotion  of  surprise  and  admira- 
tion. Contemplate  this  magnificent  ruin  of  the  self, 
the  residence  of  a  varnished  soul !  behold  this  royal 
organ  in  which  dwells  the  consciousness  of  existence, 
the  mental  man,  the  me; — a  vessel  a  thousand  times 
frailer  than  clay,  and  which  yet  holds  the  treasure  of 
thought !  In  that  soft,  whitish,  corruptible  pulp,  the 
combination  of  an  hour,  are  found  the  empire  and 
the  asylum  of  reason,  the  work-shop  in  which  human 
knowledge  is  stored  and  elaborated,  and  where  im- 


398  THE    LAW. 

mortal  conceptions  take  shape !  It  is  in  the  space 
comprised  between  the  crista  galli  and  the  internal 
occipital  crest — that  is  to  say,  within  the  compass  of 
a  few  inches — that  are  conceived  the  ideas  of  God, 
infinity,  and  eternity !  In  truth,  the  brain,  the  real 
siliqua  mentis  immortalis — shell  of  the  immortal 
mind,  as  says  Van  Helmont — forms  the  indispensable 
condition  of  intelligence.  The  tabernacle  of  the 
soul,  in  it  alone  is  found  the  evident  manifestation  of 
the  immortal  being  in  the  perishable.  Sublime  illus- 
tration of  the  nothingness  and  the  greatness  of  man. 

But  after  the  first  gush  of  emotion,  we  desire  to 
know  the  structure  of  this  marvelous  instrument. 
We  study  with  curiosity  its  two  hemispheres  so  hap- 
pily conjoined ;  its  lobes,  its  prominences,  its  wind- 
ings and  circumvolutions;  its  cavities  and  ventri- 
cles ;  its  varieties  of  color ;  the  triple  membranes 
that  envelop  it,  press  upon,  and  penetrate  it,  to  pro- 
tect and  support  it  by  nicely  adjusted  foldings.  A 
mild  and  warm  vapor,  moreover,  bathes  these  parts, 
softens  them,  and  facilitates  their  action  and  play. 

We  must  also  notice  the  prodigious  number  of 
blood  vessels,  their  admirable  interlacement  and  their 
extreme  divisibility,  that  every  cerebral  molecule  may 
be  fed  with  highly  vitalized  blood.  Physiologists,  in- 
deed, have  estimated  that  the  brain  received  a  sixth 
part  of  the  blood  of  the  body.  But  how  is  the  deli- 
cate substance  of  this  organ  to  resist  the  impetuous 
movement  of  this  fluid  ?  Everything  has  been  fore- 
seen. The  arterial  vessels  exhibit  curves  and  bends 
skillfully  devised  to  break  and  diminish  the  projectile 
force  of  the  blood ;  these  arteries,  moreover,  are  re- 


ON    THE    LAWS    OF    PHYSICAL   CULTURE. 


399 


duced  to  capillary  vessels  before  penetrating  the  tis- 
sue of  the  brain.  The  veins  from  sinuses  or  venous 
reservoirs,  which  receive  the  excess  of  blood,  and 
cause  it  to  pass  gradually  into  the  main  current  ot 
the  circulation.  In  order  to  secure  the  noble  func- 
tions of  the  brain,  nature  has  multiplied  her  functions 
to  such  an  extent,  that  nothing  short  of  the  wildest 
excess  on  the  part  of  man  can  render  them  vain  ; 
hence,  death  or  frightful  maladies  are  the  inevitable 
consequence  of  such  excess. 

The  curiosity  of  the  philosopher,  however,  far  from 
being  satisfied,  is  only  stimulated  the  more.  After 
the  most  minute  anatomical  inspection,  he  desires  to 
penetrate  still  further.  He  would  know  the  intimate 
structure  of  the  cerebral  pulp,  and  the  function  of 
every  portion  of  the  encephalon.  He  desires  to 
know  the  scale  of  proportion  between  the  modified 
form  and  substance  of  the  brain  and  the  variations 
of  intelligence ;  to  establish  a  plain,  accurate,  and 
measurable  correlation  between  the  organ  and  its 
functions,  between  the  cause  and  its  effects.  He  de- 
sires to  know  in  what  consists  the  movement  that 
generates  ideas ;  how  is  framed  that  material  base  of 
so  little,  solidity;  when  thought,  in  its  varied  forms 
and  with  its  vivid  illuminations,  arises  ;  in  fine,  where 
the  me,  that  point  to  which  all  conceptions  converge, 
resides,  and  where  thought  having  become  flesh  and 
soul  in  its  powerful  indivisibility  awaits  the  action  of 
the  will  alone,  to  manifest  itself  externally. 

For  three  thousand  years  the  solution  of  this 
great  problem  has  been  sought,  but  it  is  an  equation 
containing  so  many  unknown  quantities  that  it  seems 


4OO 


THE    LAW. 


forever  insoluble  to  the  human  mind.  All  attempts 
toward  its  solution  are  only  monuments  of  the 
weakness  of  our  faculties.  After  having  traveled  the 
field  of  hypothesis  in  the  wildest  sense  of  that  word, 
men  have  returned  to  the  pure  and  simple  observa- 
tion of  facts.  Experimental  physiology,  in  our  day, 
has  made  incredible  exertions  to  raise  the  veil.  A 
few  glimpses,  and  some  uncertain  gleams  of  light, 
with  purely  general  results,  have  been  thus  far  the 
reward  of  these  protracted  researches.  We  shall 
speak  of  them  presently ;  but  unless  we  hit  upon 
new  methods  of  investigation,  and  particularly  obtain 
instruments  more  perfect  than  those  we  now  possess, 
men  of  science  will  never  be  able  to  pass  the  limits 
of  the  possible  and  the  known ;  and  yet  the  science 
of  man  depends  entirely  upon  a  perfect  knowledge 
of  the  brain,  at  least  if  we  are  to  make  a  true  study 
of  man  and  not  invent  him.  As  long  as  this  impor- 
tant secret  shall  be  withheld  from  us,  the  human 
being,  except  in  some  respects,  will  remain  for  us  an 
insoluble  problem.  Shall  we  some  day  penetrate 
this  profound  mystery  of  our  organization  ?  who 
knows  ?  Time,  chance,  genius — are  they  not  omnip- 
otent ?  By  the  aid  of  this  threefold  lever  do  we  not 
wrest  some  secrets  from  nature  ? — we  who  appear 
condemned  to  the  eternal  necessity  of  seeking  truth 
and  to  a  like  incapacity  to  discover  it. 

THE  ADVANTAGES   OF   THE   TEMPERA- 
MENT IN  WHICH  THE   NERVOUS 
SYSTEM  PREDOMINATES. 

There  are  physicians  who,  viewing   the    question 


ON    THE    LAWS   OF    PHYSICAL   CULTURE.          40! 

• 

only  in  one  aspect,  observe  in  the  temperament  under 
consideration  the  liability  to  danger  and  disease 
which  is  inherent  in  it.  Others,  on  the  contrary, 
have  been  struck  with  its  advantages  merely.  They 
have  carried  their  respective  views  indeed  to  para- 
doxical extremes. 

The  error  of  both  parties  appears  to  be  plain. 
Let  us,  then,  endeavor  to  distinguish  between  the 
good  and  the  bad,  which  are  almost  always  mingled ; 
to  discover  the  truth  as  it  is  ordinarily  to  be  found, 
by  observing  a  strict  impartiality. 

A  lofty  stature ;  a  vast,  bony  frame,  clothed  with 
compact  and  -rugged  masses  of  muscle ;  an  ample 
chest ;  brawny  shoulders ;  the  arms  of  a  Hercules  — 
all  may  be  the  attributes  of  physical  strength,  but 
they  furnish  no  guaranty  for  inviolable  health.  Such 
an  organism  only  demonstrates  that  the  muscular 
system  is  highly  developed, — that  contractility  pre- 
dominates. But  what  is  the  indispensable  condition 
for  preserving  health  and  prolonging  life?  It  is 
this :  a  perfect  harmony  of  the  functions,  a  just 
equilibrium  of  the  vital  forces,  a  precise  and  duly 
proportioned  balance  between  the  several  organic 
acts  ;  but  these  conditions  are  not  always  to  be  found 
in  bodies  of  athletic  mould.  Nature,  in  the  robust 
man,  always  triumphs  by  energy  of -movement;  but 
if  an  obstacle  intervene  which  he  can  not  surmount, 
this  energy  becomes  the  enemy  of  its  possessor. 
The  constitutional  intensity  of  the  vital  forces,  then, 
should  be  estimated  by  their  regularity  and  by  their 
mutual  balance;  never  by  their  excess. 

If  extreme  sensibility  predisposes  to  a  multitude  of 

26 


402 


THE    LAW. 


pathological  affections,  the  contractile  energy  out  of 
proportion  to  the  other  functions,  will  exhibit  the 
same  results.  Exuberant  health  is  ever  on  the  verge 
of  its  own  decline.  Too  much  blood,  too  much  flesh, 
too  much  life,  is  an  inevitable  source  of  disease. 
Celsus,  in  speaking  of  the  athletae,  observes  that 
bodies  so  plethoric  as  theirs  are  exposed  to  sudden 
attacks  of  disease  and  speedily  grow  old.  But  be  the 
reason  what  it  may,  these  bodies,  so  vigorous  in  ap- 
pearance, possess  an  energy  in  some  sort  merely  de- 
ceptive. Real  strength  is  lacking  in  them,  that  which 
originates  in  the  nervous  principle. 

Moreover,  one  of  two  things  will  happen ;  either 
the  man  of  physical  vigor  is  indolent — in  which 
case,  neglecting  to  exercise  his  body,  a  plethoric  con- 
dition supervenes,  and  disease  is  always  imminent 
—or,  as  it  often  happens,  trusting  imprudently  to  his 
strength  which  has  so  many  times  proved  reliable, 
he  runs  into  excesses  which,  sooner  or  later,  have  the 
same  issue.  If  the  disease  be  slight,  the  equilibrium 
is  speedily  restored ;  but  the  morbific  cause  may  re- 
sist the  effort  to  dislodge  it,  and  then  the  violence 
and  impetuosity  of  the  organic  movements  are  so 
great  that  art  and  nature  are  powerless ;  the  malady 
grows  worse,  the  physical  derangements  become 
irreparable,  the  gravity  of  the  symptoms  rapidly 
augments,  the  storm  bursts,  and  the  proud  oak,  torn 
up  by  the  roots,  is  cast  upon  the  ground. 

The  man  of  letters,  the  savant  and  the  artist,  but 
too  often  of  frail  and  feeble  constitutions,  are  not 
readily  seduced  into  excesses :  they  husband  their 
health,  so  easily  impaired  by  the  least  mishap.  Re- 


ON    THE    LAWS   OF    PHYSICAL   CULTURE.          403 

flective,  continent,  and  reserved,  they  act  with  pru- 
dence and  circumspection,  at  least  when  they  know 
how  to  lay  down  rules  for  the  conduct  of  life.  More- 
over, the  sensibility  with  which  they  are  so  liberally 
endowed  by  nature'  preserves  them  from  innumer- 
able perils.  Excited  at  every  moment,  it  rapidly 
makes  the  round  of  all  organs,  warns  them  of  the 
slightest  shock,  of  the  least  accident  injurious  to 
their  delicate  mechanism.  A  vigilant  sentinel,  it 
suffers  no  cause  of  destruction  to  take  root  in  the 
system,  as  it  is  easily  aroused  in  every  organ  that 
maintains  a  contest  with  disease ;  from  the  very  fact 
that  the  constitution  is  weak,  advances  with  less  inten- 
sity or  more  tardiness ;  the  patient  and  the  physician 
have  time  to  concert  measures  to  combat  it ;  in  fine, 
accidents  with  them  are  less  rapid  in  their  tenden- 
cies to  fatal  issues,  the  struggle  with  them  less  in- 
tense— the  reed  bends  but  does  not  break. 

Thus  we  may  consider  it  certain  that  individuals 
endowed  with  a  nervous  temperament,  attended  with 
a  diminution  of  the  contractility,  as  is  the  case  with 
most  thinkers,  are  generally  little  liable  to  severe 
diseases  if  they  listen  to  the  will  of  nature.  If  they 
pass  the  bounds  of  moderation,  they  are  soon  brought 
back  through  the  very  weakness  of  their  organs. 
Wisdom  here  has  its  source  in  physical  necessity,  but 
we  must  admit  that  temperament  is  that  form  and 
shape  to  practical  philosophy. 

Moreover,  temperance  in  the  scientific  man,  and  in 
the  artist  who  has  reflected  on  his  own  nature,  is  a 
virtue  which  costs  little  and  produces  a  great  deal. 
This  happy  inability  of  his  to  deviate  from  the  laws 


404 


THE    LAW. 


of  hygiene  is  the  source  of  his  happiness — often,  in- 
deed, of  his  glory,  because  in  consequence  of  it  he  is 
able  to  devote  himself  to  the  labors  which  secure 
glory.  Let  us  add  that  the  more  one  has  cultivated 
his  mind,  the  less  does  he  seek  to  be  a  man  merely 
in  and  by  his  physical  organs.  Yes,  whatever  may 
be  said,  the  cultivation  of  the  intellect  simplifies  our 
wants,  diminishes  the  greediness  for  gain,  and  de- 
prives material  wealth  of  a  part  of  its  importance. 
Doubtless  a  man  of  a  delicate,  nervous,  and  ex- 
tremely sensitive  temperament  should  study  himself, 
attend  to  his  style  of  living,  and  strive  to  ascertain 
to  what  extent  it  is  permitted  to  satisfy  his  desires  ; 
but  he  at  least  enjoys  the  absence  of  ill,  if  not  very 
exquisite  pleasures ;  he  keeps  the  counters  constantly 
in  his  hand.  No  person  more  than  he  is  conscious 
of  the  value  of  health,  which  disposes  him  to  make 
the  utmost  possible  sacrifice  to  preserve  it.  Is  he 
not  every  hour  and  moment  rewarded?  Does  he 
not  know  that  the  future  is  the  fruit  of  the  present  ? 
He  neglects,  then,  no  attention,  no  care  or  precau- 
tion, to  attain  his  end.  To  him  who  would  censure 
his  conduct,  this  is  his  reply :  "  Nature  has  refused 
me  the  strength  to  resist  the  cause  of  disease.  I 
supply  this  want  by  my  prudence.  I  was  born  feeble, 
and  yet  I  live ;  moreover  I  live  almost  exempt  from 
the  ills  of  the  flesh,  and  with  some  chances  of  longe- 
vity." Indeed,  in  some  men  of  weak  constitutions 
there  is  an  amazing  tenacity  of  life  ;  but  the  reason 
of  this  is  found  when  we  perceive  with  what  art 
they  sustain  the  struggle  against  the  agents  destruc- 
tive of  life. 


ON    THE    LAWS    OF    PHYSICAL   CULTURE.  405 

If  we  now  compare  the  chances  of  the  delicate 
constitution  when  suffering  from  disease  with  those 
of  the  robust  and  muscular  we  shall  see  that  the  ad- 
vantage is  often  with  the  former.  Whilst  nature,  in 
the  weak  constitution,  as  I  have  said,  does  not  hurry 
forward  the  different  stages  of  the  malady  and  its 
inevitable  shocks, — such  a  constitution  bends  to  it 
readily.  It  waits  and  hopes ;  and  the  benign  in- 
fluence of  this  mood  rarely  fails  to  make  itself  felt, 
and  even  if  the  malady  be  obstinate,  it  can  make 
terms  with  it.  It  consents  to  give  it  right  of  domicil, 
and  makes  over  to  it,  so  to  speak,  its  share  of  tyranny, 
on  condition  of  keeping  some  share  of  freedom  for 
itself;  and  often  ends  by  nullifying  and  subduing  it 
by  a  diet  of  care  and  patience.  Valetudinarians  and 
creatures,  particularly  women,  furnish  to  physicians 
frequent  illustrations  of  the  truth  of  this  remark. 
Certain  literary  characters,  of  frail  and  sickly  habits, 
have  likewise  verified  it.  Such  a  one  has  nothing  to 
envy  other  mortals.  His  life  has  enchantments  of 
its  own,  notwithstanding  the  vigor  of  nature  and  the 
illusions  of  fortune.  They  are  happy  through  the 
very  circumstance  which  ordinarily  renders  existence 
a  burden — the  possession  of  a  feeble  constitution. 
In  the  first  place,  this  organization  enjoys  an  inde- 
scribable pleasure  unknown  to  others.  Then  the 
very  toils  of  thought  contribute  greatly  to  this  kind 
of  felicity,  which  consists  in  enjoying  the  present,  and 
even  the  homage  of  posterity  in  advance.  The  hope 
that  bronze  shall  perpetuate  his  memory,  that  he 
shall  leave  behind  him  a  name  and  a  few  truths  to  be 
delivered  down  from  age  to  age,  certainly  gives  to 


406  THE    LAW. 

life  a  peculiar  charm.  The  presentiment  of  glory  is 
already  a  draft  on  the  happiness  which  it  promises, 
and  so  far,  at  least,  that  happiness  is  sure.  There  is 
a  deep  inward  delight  in  creating,  in  thinking,  in 
imagining,  and  meditating,  of  which  the  vulgar  have 
no  conception.  The  slightest  difficulties  overcome 
in  these  labors  enhance  enjoyment. 

One  can  not  conceive  why  Madame  de  Stael  should 
have  called  glory  the  "  glittering  mourning  garb  of 
happiness."  This  assertion  is,  at  least,  too  general. 
No!  this  dream  of  immortality  which  enables  us 
here  below  to  suffer  and  to  die  is  not  always  the 
enemy  of  our  peace.  We  should  look  at  it  philosoph- 
ically, that  is,  estimate  it  at  what  it  is  worth,  neither 
make  too  much  nor  too  little  of  it.  And  even  con- 
sidering glory  in  relation  to  health,  which  is  our 
particular  object,  we  should  be  deceived  were  we  to 
suppose  the  latter  always  compromised  by  the  pur- 
suit of  the  former.  There  is  in  the  man  who  desires 
or  possesses  an  honorable  celebrity  an  active  prin- 
ciple, which  animates  and  sustains  the  vital  force, 
enabling  its  possessor  to  live,  and  to  live  well.  That 
self-satisfaction  which  one  experiences  in  the  concep- 
tion of  the  noble  and  beautiful  is  not  without  its 
value  as  regards  health.  A  good  work  that  meets 
with  success  infuses  balm  into  the  blood.  For  proof, 
refer  to  the  artists  and  most  renowned  poets.  Furth- 
ermore, the  energetic  and  manly  exercise  of  the  men- 
tal faculties,  when  we  do  not  force  nature, — let  me  be 
clearly  understood, — would  alone  suffice  to  impress 
upon  the  system  an  activity  advantageous  to  health. 
When  this  is  preserved,  who  can  doubt  that  the  feeling 


ON    THE    LAWS    OF    PHYSICAL   CULTURE.  407 

of  comfort  that  always  attends  health  in  its  turn  re- 
acts beneficially  on  the  imagination, — the  chief  source 
of  our  happiness  and  of  our  misfortunes  ?  Celeb- 
rity is  not  always  that  which  profound  thinkers  most 
want ;  they  often  need  in  retirement  a  work  to  which, 
in  order  to  enjoy  their  repose,  they  can  confide  the 
thoughts  that  oppress  them ;  for  the  brain  is  not 
always  the  master  of  these  that  are  ripe  for  utterance. 
It  is  known  that  Metastasis  was  early  in  life  attacked 
with  a  serious  nervous  disease,  and  that  he  lived  to 
the  age  of  eighty.  Palipot,  who  was  quite  feeble  in 
his  childhood  and  youth,  received  the  degree  of 
Master  of  Arts  at  twelve,  and  of  Bachelor  of  The 
ology  at  sixteen.  At  nineteen  he  was  married,  and 
became  the  father  of  a  family,  and  the  author  of  two 
tragedies  ;  and  at  eighty,  in  spite  of  a  very  agitated 
life,  his  health  was  still  sound  and  his  mind  full  of 
vigor.  In  our  day,  have  we  not  seen  Andrieux,  a 
man  of  letters,  by  care  protect  his  days,  notwithstand- 
ing his  miserable  health?  Be  this  as  it  may,  the 
thinker  in  infirm  health  in  some  measure  adapts  him- 
self to  his  ills,  and  grows  familiar  with  them.  He 
and  his  maladies  are  wont  to  keejtup  a  long  acquaint- 
ance. The  case  is  otherwise  with  the  man  of  vigorous 
health.  Disease  always  takes  him  by  surprise,  being 
a  stranger  who  terrifies  him  ;  for  it  is  with  good 
health  as  with  long-continued  prosperity, — we  feel  all 
the  more  deeply  the  misfortune  of  losing  it,  in  pro- 
portion to  the  length  of  time  we  have  enjoyed  it. 
The  man  in  whom  the  animal  predominates,  who  is 
consequently  healthy  and  robust,  feels  extreme  con- 
fidence in  the  strength  of  his  constitution.  He 


408  THE    LAW. 

entertains  an  exaggerated  estimate  of  it,  accustomed 
as  he  is  to  look  upon  himself  as  the  spoiled  child  of 
nature.  But  no  sooner  is  he  stricken  down  by  sick- 
ness than  he  is  overcome  by  amazement, — is  indig- 
nant that  it  should  dare  to  assail  him.  His  moral 
strength  fails  entirely,  and  hence  the  origin  of  the 
ancient  simile :  "  as  foolish  as  a  sick  athlete*."  Indeed, 
if  the  malady  be  obstinate,  gloomy  reflections  succeed. 
This  robust  man  thinks  that  the  cause  of  the  evil  is 
unquestionably  extremely  violent,  since  it  has  suc- 
ceeded in  prostrating  him ;  that  art  can  be  of  no 
avail,  as  the  attack  has  been  so  •  severe  and  over- 
whelming. Thence  come  discouragement,  a  yielding 
to  melancholy,  a  prostration  of  strength,  so  prejudi- 
cial to  the  restoration  of  the  natural  play  of  the 
functions.  The  daily  practice  of  physicians  attests 
the  truth  of  the  assertion. 

Thus,  even  'as  regards  health,  sickness,  and  lon- 
gevity, many  chances  are  in  favor  of  the  constitution 
in  which  the  nervous  element  predominates — that  of 
artists  and  men  of  letters.  Meanwhile  we  should  be 
careful  not  to  consider  these  disadvantages  as  first  in 
importance.  There  are  others,  immense  and  incon- 
testible,  which  are  equal,  the  result  of  this  constitu- 
tion :  they  are  those  of  thought.  If  the  mind  is  the 
real  man ;  if  through  the  intellect  man  is  severed 
from  the  merely  animal  kingdom  ;  if  the  physical  life 
is  of  little  value  in  itself,  and  the  sphere  of  existence 
is  measured  by  the  moral  sphere, — beyond  contradic- 
tion, it  is  to  the  development  of  the  nervous  system 
that  we  owe  this  prerogative ;  but  when  this  boon  is 
conferred  in  its  perfection,  is  it  then  a  gift  to  be 
despised  ? 


ON    THE    LAWS    OF    PHYSICAL   CULTURE.  409 

Every  individual  endowed  with  a  gross  physical 
organization  has  necessarily  a  limited  intellect.  It 
might  be  said  that  the  very  vigor  of  its  impelling 
forces  is  incompatible  with  delicacy  and  refinement 
in  those  forces.  Such  an  one  is  a  slave,  and  born  to 
obey.  Let  him  not  find  fault  with  nature.  Fre- 
quently, on  the  contrary,  in  a  frail  and  wasted  body, 
whence  life  seems  ready  to  exhale  every  instant,  there 
is  observed  an  energetic  organic  apparatus  which 
endows  its  possessor  with  a  refinement  of  the  mora 
nature,  and  in  this  very  circumstance  gives  him  a 
superiority  which  it  is  vain  to  contest.  He  who  has 
the  light,  and  the  mission  to  enlighten  and  guide 
mankind  ;  he  whose  thought  rises  beyond  the  range 
of  vulgar  conceptions  ;  who  rouses  the  world  by  his 
opinions,  and  constrains  it  to  yield  attention  ;  who 
has  the  ability  to  charm  away  our  dejection,  lift  us 
above  ourselves,  and  dissipate  the  power  they  possess 
of  easing  themselves  of  the  burden — he  is  to  give 
utterance  to  them  in  language.  After  expression 
has  been  given  them,  the  repose  and  calm  of  the 
system  is  restored.  "  Were  it  not  for  mental  exer- 
cise," says  Byron,  "  I  should  have  already  sunk  under 
the  weight  of  my  imagination  and  of  reality."  We 
must  remember,  also,  that  with  others  the  discovery 
of  that  which  is,  is  sufficient  for  their  happiness. 
Did  not  the  illustrious  Bennet  maintain  that  the 
felicity  of  the  future  life  would  consist  solely  in 
knowino-?  "If  I  were  to  conceive  of  a  nature  con- 

c> 

sisting  of  pure  mind,"  says  Bossuet,  "it  seems  to  me 
that  I  should  give  it  only  the  attributes  of  under- 
standing and  loving  the  truth  ;  and  that  alone  would 
render  it  happy." 


410  THE    LAW. 

j 

Even  supposing  there  is  a  lack  of  that  restless, 
bold,  and  persevering  genius,  which  agonizes  while  it 
produces,  is  not  the  love  of  study  a  happy  privilege 
bestowed  upon  this  organization?  It  is  an  error  to 
assert  that  the  age  is  entirely  utilitarian  ;  that  physi- 
cal industrialism  rules  foremost  in  our  day.  How 
many  are  there  who  still  devote  their  lives  to  science, 
art,  and  poetry?  How  many  take  refuge  in  philoso- 
phy through  their  extreme  desire  for  peace  of  soul, 
or  flee  to  science  through  their  insatiable  craving  for 
knowledge  ?  The  delicious  fragrance  of  the  honey 
of  the  muses  attracts  them,  and  confines  them  in 
peaceful  seclusion.  Whether  it  be  contempt  of 
glory,  which  costs  so  much  time  to  those  who  confer 
and  those  who  attain  it,  or  whether  that  interior 
charm,  that  mastery  over  one's  self,  inseparable  from 
studious  pursuits,  has  seduced  them,  they  soon  forget 
the  world,  its  errors  and  its  social  inequalities — so 
absurd  and  so  revolting.  Everything  interests  in  the 
grand  system  of  nature.  Here  the  most  vigorous 
truths  still  excel  in  attracting  the  most  agreeable 
illusions.  The  most  lowly  flower,  a  grain  of  sand, 
the  winding  streamlet,  the  spider's  webb,  the  buzzing 
insect,  a  raindrop  on  the  wing  of  a  bird,  possess  their 
scientific  interest  and  their  poetic  ideality.  It  is 
often  in  the  study  of  minute  objects  that  a  vigorous 
and  penetrating  mind  soars  toward  that  world  of 
ideas  which  things  represent.  Everything  depends 
upon  the  vision  exerted,  and  upon  the  mind  that 
studies.  Here  are  innumerable  pleasures  for  him 
who  has  the  skill  to  find  them. 


AJPPEDSTDIX    I. 

HANGING  AS  A  MEANS  OF  GRACE 
Eloquent  Discourse  by  W.  H.  Ryder,  D.  D. 

DOES  HANGING   QUALIFY  A   MURDERER  FOR  HEAVEN? 
If  It  is  a  Means  of  Grace,  the  More  of  it  the  Better. 


How   tlae    Cond.ero.ned     should   be    Treated. 
THE  MATERIAL  IDEA  OF  HEAVEN  AND  HELL. 


By  special  permit,  we  here  publish  a  practical  and 
sensible  sermon  preached  by  the  eminent  Rev.  Dr. 
Ryder,  on  the  subject  of  Capital  Punishment,  which 
will  be  read  with  great  interest,  and  is  in  strong  sup- 
port of  the  principles  set  forth  in  this  volume.  The 
discourse,  which  is  given  in  full,  was  preached  March 
30th,  and  phonographically  reported  by  the  Chicago 
Tribune  : 

BIBLE  TEXT. 

Whither  shall  I  go  from  thy  spirit  ?  or  whither  shall  I  flee  from  thy  presence  ? 
If  I  ascend  up  into  heaven,  thou  art  there.  If  I  make  my  bed  in  hell,  behold 
thou  art  there.  If  I  take  the  wings  of  the  morning,  and  dwell  in  the  uttermost 
parts  of  the  sea,  even  there  shall  thy  hand  lead  me,  and  thy  right  hand  shaH 
hold  me.  139  Psalm  ;  7,  8,  9,  10. 


412 


APPENDIX. 


THE  SERMON. 


One  is  surely  acting  in  harmony  with  the  spirit  of  the  gospel 
when  he  interests  himself  in  the  welfare  of  the  criminal  classes. 
No  man  can  be  so  low  as  to  be  entirely  shut  out  from  human 
sympathy.  It  matters  not  of  what  .offense  against  the  law  one 
may  be  guilty,  he  is  ^to  be  treated  as  a  human  being,  and  to  be 
subjected  to  no  needless  torture.  God's  mercy  is  extended  to  the 
vilest ;  His  grace  is  free  to  all.  So  should  man's  sympathy  be ; 
and  we  ought  all  to  be  actuated  by  a  desire  to  do  the  worst  of  our 
race  as  much  good  as  we  conveniently  can.  I  do  not  hold,  there- 
fore, that  a  man  should  be  suffered  to  go  to  the  gallows,  as  if  by 
the  act  of  murder  he  had  shut  himself  out  from  all  human  regard. 

By  common  consent,  the  civilization  of  our  time  has  pronounced 
against  many  of  the  forms  of  torture  formerly  employed  to  de- 
prive one  of  his  life, — such  as  quartering  a  man,  burning  him  in 
the  use  of  green  wood,  pouring  heated  lead  and  oil  into  his  ears 
and  eyes.  All  such  instruments  of  death  are  utterly  set  aside  as 
inhuman,  and,  even  when  we  employ  hanging,  we  demand  of  the 
sheriff  that  he  shall  apply  that  penalty  without  needless  torture. 
This  much  I  say  on  the  side  of  humanity. 

And  I  think,  also,  that  one  is  acting  in  the  name  of  religion 
who  seeks  to  offer  to  the  culprit  the  benefits  ot  religion,  and,  as 
far  as  possible,  bring  him  into  a  proper  temper  to  enter  the  eternal 
world.  Far  be  it  from  me  to  condemn  the  efforts  of  clergymen 
in  this  behalf.  I  commend  them  for  it.  But  this  sympathy  which 
is  offered  to  the  criminals,  especially  those  of  a  particular  class, 
may  be  injudiciously  expressed,  and  so  harmful  to  the  public 
morals ;  as  may  be  also  the  efforts  to  promote  the  spiritual  wel- 
fare of  the  criminal,  and  so  injurious  to  the  cause  of  religion. 
Under  the  former  head  I  place  all  attempts  to  pardon  criminals 
out  of  regard  for  them  or  for  their  families,  or  on  the  ground  that 
the  penalty  is  severe.  I  condemn  all  such  interposition  in  behalf 
of  criminals  as  that  employed  by  Dr.  Tyng,  of  New  York,  in  the 
case  of  Foster.  It  is  no  matter  whether  Foster  went  to  Dr. 
Tyng's  church  or  not.  It  is  no  matter  whether  he  belonged  to  a 
respectable  family  or  not.  It  is  not  at  all  pertinent  to  the  case 
that  his  family  were  the  friends  of  the  pastor,  and  the  pastor 


APPENDIX.  413 

wished  to  be  the  friend  of  the  family.  The  simple  fact  in  the 
case  is  that  the  man  Foster  was  notoriously  guilty  of  murder,  and, 
being  so,  deserved  the  penalty  of  the  law.  It  is  mistaken  com- 
passion and  mistaken  sympathy  that  leads  a  clergyman  to  try  to 
save  from  the  gallows  a  man  clearly  guilty  of  murder,  who  may 
happen  to  belong  to  a  family  in  whose  welfare  he  is  interested. 
On  the  other  hand,  we  are  not  to  seek  to  save  one  from  the  just 
condemnation  of  the  law,  because,  in  our  judgment,  the  penalty 
of  the  law  is  needlessly  severe.  Because  some  of  you  may  be- 
lieve that  imprisonment  for  life  is  a  proper  penalty  for  murder, 
and  not  hanging,  you  are  not  therefore  to  oppose  the  execution  of 
the  law  so  long  as  hanging  is  the  penalty ;  but  rather  remember 
that  your  judgment  with  regard  to  what  ought  to  be  the  penalty  is 
not  to  interfere  with  the  just  execution  of  the  law,  so  long  as 
hanging  is  the  penalty.  The  like  is  true  in  the  case  of  a  recent 
murderer  in  this  city ;  and  in  the  case  of  almost  every  murderer 
there  is  an  earnest  effort  made  to  save  the  man  from  his  just 
deserts.  Petitions  are  signed;  benevolent  Christian  men  and 
women,  well-disposed,  sign  the  papers.  I  think  all  such  attempts, 
unless  there  is  some  reason  for  it  outside  of  sympathy,  outside  of 
one's  objection  to  the  death  penalty,  outside  of  the  fact  that  it  is 
a  terrible  thing  to  take  a  man's  life  in  that  way,  are  hurtful  to  the 
public  morals,  and  ought  not  to  be  encouraged.  This  injudicious 
attempt  to  get  murderers  pardoned  is  rightly  quoted,  I  see,  latterly, 
in  favor  of  capital  punishment ;  and  I  am  frank  to  say  that  unless 
you  regulate  the  pardoning  power,  hanging  seems  to  be  the  only 
sure  penalty, — and  that  is  not  very  sure, — not  because  as  some  of 
our  preachers  say  God  said  to  Noah,  "  Whosoever  sheddeth  man's 
blood,  by  man  shall  his  blood  be  shed,"  but  because  the  safety  of 
society  requires  it.  God  also  said  to  Noah  (and  he  said  it  before 
he  said  the  other ;  in  the  record  it  stands  two  or  three  verses  be- 
fore), "  But  flesh  with  the  life  thereof,  which  is  the  blood  thereof, 
shall  ye  not  eat."  But  as  most  persons,  including  clergymen, 
consider  animal  food  necessary  to  the  health,  they  leave  this  com- 
mand to  Noah  unenforced.  But  one  is  just  as  authoritative  as  the 
other,  and  neither  has  any  more  to  do  with  our  time  than  a  com- 
munication that  may.  have  been  made  to  the  antediluvians. 

Personally,  I  prefer,  if  I  could  have  everything  as  I  would  wish 


414  APPENDIX. 

it,  imprisonment  for  life  to  the  death  penalty.  But,  if  a  man 
condemned  for  murder  is  to  be  pardoned  and  set  at  liberty  in  the 
community  again,  whatever  may  be  my  personal  preference,  I  am 
obliged  to  place  myself  on  the  side  of  those  who  defend  capital 
punishment.  The  dignity  and  majesty  of  the  law  must  be  main- 
tained. That  is  a  fundamental  proposition.  No  matter  what  I 
may  like  or  dislike,  the  law  must  be  upheld,  for  we  are  all  of  us 
dependent  upon  the  enforcement  of  law,  and  nothing  is  reliable 
unless  the  criminal  classes  are  made  to  understand  that  the  law 
means  what  it  says,  and  must  be  respected.  The  penalties  of  law 
should  not,  therefore,  be  set  aside  to  please  an  individual,  for  the 
welfare  of  millions  should  never  be  jeopardized  to  gratify  a  few. 
I,  and  the  persons  of  my  household,  and  the  members  of  my 
church,  may  wish  to  save  some  one  from  the  gallows,  but  shall  I 
and  they  be  gratified  to  the  detriment  of  the  whole  community  ? 

The  exercise  of  the  pardoning  power  in  some  cases  seems  ne- 
cessary ;  but,  after  the  courts  have  pronounced  against  a  criminal 
the  penalty  of  death,  it  ought  not  to  be  competent  for  the  gover- 
nor to  set  aside  the  verdict,  unless  facts  which  are  developed 
subsequent  to  the  trial  justify  it.  The  criminal,  as  a  criminal, 
deserves  no  sympathy ;  pity,  but  not  sympathy.  The  wrong-doer 
has  a  claim  upon  our  humanity,  but  not  the  wrong-doing.  And  I 
am  satisfied  that  sometimes  sympathy  is  exercised  in  this  connec- 
tion so  indiscriminately  that  it  really  aids  and  abets  crime. 

But  this  leads  me  to  the  next  topic — the  injudicious  application 
of  religion  to  the  criminal.  It  is  not  for  me,  Christian  friends,  to 
limit  the  divine  mercy.  That  forgiveness  in  any  way  lessens  or 
removes  the  punishment,  I  do  not  stand  here  to  say;  but  it  is 
clear  that,  in  the  providence  of  God,  forgiveness  is  mainly  applied 
to  the  sin  rather  than  to  the  punishment,  and  that  Christ  did  not 
come  into  this  world  so  much  to  take  away  punishment  due  to 
mankind  for  their  sins  as  he  did  to  take  away  the  sinfulness  of 
man.  And  it  is  also  clear  that  the  only  effect  of  such  gallow's 
spectacles  as  we  have  had  of  late  in  this  city  and  in  other  cities 
is  to  lessen  the  enormity  of  sinfulness  and  to  take  away  something 
of  the  sanctity  of  religion.  The  more  I  think  about  these  things 
the  more  they  distress  me, — the  more  I  am  satisfied  that,  as  the 
case  now  stands,  the  criminal  classes  are  not  affected  favorably  by 
these  hanging  spectacles. 


APPENDIX.  415 

I  want  first  of  all,  now  to  call  your  attention  briefly,  and  yet 
with  due  respect  to  those  from  whom  I  differ  theologically,  to  the 
theological  errors  involved  in  all  this.  About  every  man  who  has 
been  hung  within  my  remembrance,  has  been,  subsequent  to  the 
commission  of  the  crime,  and  ordinarily  a  day  or  two  days  before, 
made  ready  for  the  eternal  world ;  and  the  announcement  has 
been  given  through  the  press,  and  frequently  by  the  criminal  him- 
self when  he  stands  upon  the  very  verge  of  eternity — "  I  have 
made  my  peace  with  God ;  I  am  on  the  Lord's  side ;  I  am  going 
straight  to  Heaven."  I  do  not  say  these  men  are  not  sincere,  but 
I  say,  when  a  clergyman  takes  hold  of  a  case  of  that  kind  he  has 
a  case  to  make  out ;  and  when  a  man  is  taken  hold  of,  it  seems  to 
be  for  his  interest  to  yield  to  the  appeal.  That  there  is  any  de- 
ception practised  in  the  case,  of  course  I  say  nothing  about,  one 
way  or  the  other;  but  it  looks  so  much  like  a  business  transaction 
that,  if  applied  to  anything  but  religion,  I  should  call  it  a"  sham." 
To  me  it  is  psychologically  impossible  for  a  man  who  has  been 
sinful,  corrupt,  wicked  all  his  life,  an  hour,  or  two  hours,  or  a  day, 
or  two  days  before  he  dies,  to  be  made  ready  to  enter  the  eternal 
world  and  to  rise  up  into  grandeur  and  perfectness  of  a  saintly 
man.  I  concede  that  the  worst  criminal  may  repent,  and  be  sin- 
cere in  his  repentance  ;  I  consider  that  the  last  moment  before  he 
goes  out  of  the  world  he  may  ejaculate  those  sentences  which  it  is 
pleasant  for  us  to  hear ;  but  to  carry  the  idea  to  the  community 
that  a  man,  by  anything  done  for  him,  or  by  him,  in  that  short 
time,  takes  rank  with  the  angels  in  glory,  is  to  me  not  only  absurd, 
but  to  my  mind,  is  making  little  less  than  a  mockery  of  religion. 
Let  me  relate  to  you  a  brief  incident.  A  brother,  who  has  been 
at  my  house  during  the  past  week,  told  me  of  the  following  cir- 
cumstance that  came  within  his  own  personal  observation.  In  the 
city  where  he  preaches,  a  good  man,  while  in  the  performance  of 
his  ordinary  business,  was  shot  and  instantly  killed.  He  was  not 
the  person  the  murderer  intended  to  kill,  but  was  mistaken  for  the 
individual  the  murderer  wanted  to  dispose  of.  The  murdered 
man  attended  the  Universalist  Church,  and  was  a  correct  and  ex- 
emplary person  of  good  standing  in  the  community.  My  friend, 
after  the  murderer  had  had  his  trial  and  been  condemned,  a  day 
or  two  before  his  execution,  called  upon  him  in  his  cell.  He 


416  APPENDIX. 

asked  him  how  he  felt  with  regard  to  the  fate  before  him,  and  he 
said,  "  I  am  all  right.  I  have  made  my  peace  with  God.  I  am 
all  ready  to  die.  I  expect  to  be  in  heaven  in  forty-eight  hours." 
"  Well,"  said  the  clergyman,  "  what  do  you  think  is  the  condition 
of  the  man  you  killed?"  Said  he,  "  That  bothers  me  a  good  deal. 
I  have  been  thinking  about  that  since  I  was  converted ;  how  it 
will  seem  for  me  when  I  get  to  heaven,  to  look  down  upon  him  in 
hell?"  "What  makes  you  think  he  is  in  hell?"  "Why,  because 
I  shot  him  so  quickly  he  hadn't  a  chance  to  repent.  Just  as 
quick  as  the  pistol  went  off  he  fell,  and  couldn't  think  about  it." 

Here  you  have  emotional  piety  set  over  against  solid  character. 
You  all  know  which  is  the  higher ;  you  all  know  which  society 
rests  on ;  you  all  know  which  is  best  in  your  sons,  in  your  daugh- 
ters, in  business  men,  in  citizens  generally, — a  wild  impulse  of 
religion  or  solid  morality  ingrained  into  the  very  fibre  of  one's 
manhood.  And  yet  emotional  piety  takes  a  man  to  heaven  (and 
so  little  of  it  that  I  think  it  is  mostly  froth),  and  solid  character 
lets  him  down  the  other  way.  Now,  mark  you,  I  recommend  and 
plead  for  emotional  piety.  Better  that  a  man  should  show  a  re- 
ligious interest,  as  did  Nicodemus  at  the  burial  of  his  Lord,  than 
not  at  all.  Better  for  the  wayward  son  to  say,  the  last  hour  before 
he  dies,  "  Father,  I  renounce  this  wicked  living  of  mine ;  I  ask 
your  pardon  for  the  wrong  done."  There  is  comfort  in  that;  but 
when  you  come  to  say  that  the  prodigal  son  deserves  more  at  the 
hands  of  his  God  than  the  son  who  had  lived  faithfully,  and  nobly, 
and  generously  all  the  while,  you  utterly  pervert  the  New  Testa- 
ment. In  the  parable  of  the  Prodigal  Son,  the  father  shows  his 
gratitude  by  many  expressive  acts  that  the  wayward  son  has  come 
home,  but  do  you  think  he  put  that  son  in  his  affection  and  confi- 
dence above  that  other  son  who  had  remained  faithfully  by  him 
and  been  dutiful  all  the  while  ? 

Furthermore,  such  spectacles  as  I  am  considering,  as  educa- 
tional influences,  are  mischievous.  As  if  a  man '  should  say, 
"  Well,  now,  if  I  murder  another  I  shall  probably  be  hung.  So 
far  as  human  law  is  concerned,  I  shall  have  to  suffer  the  penalty, 
but  so  far  as  the  divine  law  is  concerned,  I  know  how  to  get  rid 
of  that.  I  can  manage  that  part.  I  can  live  forty  and  nine  years 
in  sin,  and  wipe  away  the  consequences,  but  I  can  not  do  anything 


APPENDIX.  417 

against  man's  law  without,  in  all  probability,  being  arrested. 
These  detectives  are  so  terribly  searching  in  their  inquiries  that  it 
is  pretty  hard  to  get  rid  of  them ;  but  so  far  as  God  is  concerned, 
I  know  how  to  elude  his  law,  and  shirk  the  penalty  of  it.  I  am 
not  troubled  about  that."  Now,  I  contend  that  everything  of 
that  kind  is  demoralizing.  It  is  not  giving  a  man  his  deserts.  I 
maintain  that  the  conviction  ought  to  rest  upon  your  heart  and 
mine,  that,  if  we  go  through  the  world  in  opposition  to  God,  he 
will  hold  us  answerable  for  those  things,  not  only  while  we  live, 
but  after  we  pass  out  of  this  body  as  well ;  and  that  the  character 
ingrained  into  the  human  organization  can  not  be  wiped  out  by 
any  ejaculatory  sentences  uttered  at  any  time. 

I  am  reminded  here  of  what  Jesus  said  to  the  thief  on  the 
cross.  It  seems,  in  the  judgment  of  many,  to  stand  in  opposition 
to  what  I  am  teaching.  In  reference  to  what  our  Lord  said  to 
the  man  who  was  crucified  by  his  side,  there  are  two  facts  to  be 
stated : 

FIRST — It  is  confessedly  difficult  to  determine  how  much  the 
robber  understood  about  the  mission  of  Christ.  For  it  hardly 
seems  probable  that  he  understood  that  Christ  had  set  up  a  spir- 
itual kingdom  when  his  disciples  supposed  he  was  setting  up  a 
material  kingdom.  If  the  Apostles,  when  they  found  our  Lord 
was  crucified,  supposing  his  work  had  come  to  an  end,  went  their 
way,  it  is  not  likely  that  this  criminal  understood  much  about 
Christ's  spiritual  kingdom. 

SECOND — Precisely  what  is  meant  by  the  word  "  Paradise  "  is  not 
clear,  and  perhaps  never  can  be  now.  Some  individuals  say  it  means 
"  state  of  the  dead,"  as  if  our  Lord  meant  to  say,  "  You  ask  me 
to  remember  you  when  I  come  into  my  kingdom.  Why  this  day 
both  of  us  are  to  be  in  the  state  of  the  dead,  and,  therefore,  what 
can  you  expect  in  my  kingdom?"  Others  understand  it  to  in- 
clude something  more  than  the  state  of  the  dead — to  include 
what  the  Greeks  meant  by  the  word  Elysium.  In  view  of  all  the 
facts,  it  seems  to  me  that  our  Lord  referred  to  the  spiritual  world 
into  which  they  were  both  soon  to  pass,  and  that  he  meant  in 
some  way  to  speak  approvingly  of  the  condition  of  the  penitent 
thief  in  connection  with  that  reference.  But,  as  already  said,  the 
precise  meaning  it  is  difficult  to  affirm.  There  is,  however,  no 

27 


418  APPENDIX. 

reason  to  suppose  that  our  Lord  meant  to  say,  "  This  day  you  will 
be  a  perfect  human  being ;  this  day  you  will  be  an  angel  of  light ; 
or  this  day  you  will  be  with  me  in  heaven ;"  because  that  is  con- 
tradictory of  what  our  Lord  says  subsequently.  For  after  his 
resurrection,  when  Mary  met  him  in  the  garden,  near  the 
tomb  in  which  his  body  had  been  placed,  as  recorded  in 
the  i  yth  verse  of  the  20th  chapter  of  John,  we  are  told 
that  Jesus  said  to s  Mary,  when  she  addressed  him :  "  Touch 
me  not,  for  I  am  not  yet  ascended  to  my  Father."  This  was  the 
third  day  after  the  crucifixion.  Jesus,  therefore,  could  not  have 
meant  that  the  repentant  robber  would  be  that  day  with  him  in 
heaven,  because  what  our  Lord  afterwards  says  of  himself  shows 
that  he  himself  had  not  been  there.  His  reference  probably  was 
to  the  spiritual  realm. 

I  do  not  wish,  Christian  friends,  in  what  I  say  in  opposition  to 
the  material  conception  with  which  this  whole  subject  is  shrouded, 
to  discourage  any  individual,  in  connection  with  any  church,  from 
laboring  earnestly  in  behalf  of  the  conversion  and  restoration  of 
the  criminal  classes,  but  I  beg  that  they  so  conduct  their  affairs 
that  their  efforts  shall  not  be  detrimental  to  the  cause  of  religion, 
and  so  that  these  gallows  speeches,  in  the  estimation  of  many 
right-minded  and  law-observing  citizens,  shall  not  seem  a  burlesque 
on  religion.  For,  if  the  gallows  can  thus  be  made  a  means  of 
grace ;  if  almost  every  one  who  goes  out  of  the  world  by  hanging 
goes  straight  to  glory,  and  would  hardly  get  there  but  by  that  pro- 
cess, it  might  be  well  for  us  to  consider  whether  it  would  not  be 
useful  to  employ  hanging  as  a  means  of  grace  on  very  many  other 
occasions.  I  do  not  know  but  it  would  be  welljto  apply  it  to  some 
of  our  aldermen  and  members  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  and  direc- 
tors of  insurance  companies,  and  congressmen;  and  now  and 
then  a  minister,  and  a  merchant,  and  so  on  all  the  way  through, 
thus  making  their  salvation  sure.  If  a  bad  man  commits  a  mur- 
der the  matter  of  his  future  destiny  seems  to  be  quite  sure.  Oh ! 
brethren,  this  is  not  the  Gospel.  Christ  in  his  word  does  not 
talk  to  the  human  heart  in  that  way.  It  is  the  old  material  con- 
ception of  things,  that  has  come  down  into  the  age,  and  still  lin- 
gers among  the  people.  In  many  of  our  leading  churches,  or 
what  we  call  orthodox,  to-day,  there  are  taught  the  most  excellent, 


APPENDIX.  419 

valuable  spiritual  doctrines,  and  the  religion  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment is  interpreted  in  the  light  of  the  age,  but  among  the  common 
people  that  old,  material  idea  of  heaven  as  a  locality,  and  of  hell 
as  a  locality  and  place  of  torment,  and,  for  aught  I  know,  of 
liquid  fire  and  brimstone,  still  lingers.  Some  of  you  remember 
that  a  fortnight  ago  to-day  I  referred  to  this  general  subject.  At 
the  close  of  my  sermon,  there  came  up  to  this  desk  a  young  man, 
and  he  said  to  me,  "  I  am  not  accustomed  to  hearing  Universalist 
preaching,  so  I  would  like  to  ask  you  a  question."  "  Talk  on,  my 
young  friend,"  said  I.  "  There  are  only  two  places  spoken  of  in 
the  Bible  after  death  into  which  the  dead  go ;  one  is  heaven  and 
the  other  is  hell.  Now,  if  the  murderer  don't  go  to  heaven,  must 
he  not  go  to  the  other  place?"  That  seems  logical,  does  it 
not?  What  is  the  root  error?  It  is  that  there  is  no  place 
in  the  universe  that  deserves  to  be  called  heaven ;  and  there 
is  no  place  in  the  universe  that  deserves  to  be  called  hell. 
Heaven  is  a  state  and  a  condition ;  hell  is  a  state  and  a  con- 
dition, and  no  place  at  all.  It  is  the  old  material  conception 
of  a  beautiful  garden,  with  running  streams,  or  a  great  city  with 
golden  streets  fixed  up  grandly,  and  people  are  going  up  there, 
and  they  are  going  to  knock  at  the  gates,  and  the  gates  are  to  be 
opened,  and  they  are  to  walk  in  and  live  in  fine  houses.  That  is 
the  idea  still  prevailing  with  the  less  intelligent  portion  of  our 
community.  The  right  view  is,  the  good  man  is  in  heaven  to-day, 
and  all  the  heaven  there  is  for  him,  of  which  we  have  any  knowl- 
edge. The  bad  man  is  in  hell  to-day,  and  he  will  be  in  hell  so 
long  as  he  remains  a  bad  man.  Heaven  is  a  state.  And  good 
men,  truth-seeking  and  God-fearing  people,  are  in  that  state. 
They  are  known  by  many  names,  and  live  in  many  lands,  but  they 
are  united  by  a  common  bond  in  their  devotion  to  the  good  and 
true.  Put  away,  therefore,  this  idea  of  locality,  and  remember 
that  heaven  is  a  condition — a  state,  not  a  locality,  as  if  men  and 
women  are  to  be  separated  from  each  other  by  a  sort  of  isothermal 
line,  as  if  on  one  side  is  Illinois  and  on  the  other  is  Minnesota ; 
as  if  a  kind  of  Mississippi  River  is  to  separate  heaven  from  hell. 
It  is  the  old  Jewish  conception  of  the  end  of  the  world  that  has 
worked  its  way  down  to  our  time,  and  the  old  pagan  conception 
corrupted,  even  by  grosser,  nominally,  Christian  ideas.  It  is  time 
the  religion  of  Christ  were  free  of  these  errors. 


420  APPENDIX. 

"  And  now,  Christian  friends,  all  that  remains  for  me  to  say  this 
morning  is  that  the  language  of  our  text  is  applicable  to  us  all — 
to  the  criminal  classes,  to  all  conditions  and  phases  of  society. 
"  Whither  shall  I  go  from  thy  spirit  ?  or  whither  shall  I  flee  from 
thy  presence  ?  If  I  ascend  up  into  heaven,  God  is  there  ;  if  I 
make  my  bed  in  hell,  behold,  God  is  there.  If  I  take  the  wings 
of  the  morning,  and  dwell  in  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  sea,  even 
there  shall  thy  hand  lead  me,  and  thy  right  hand  shall  hold  me." 
God  is  everywhere  present.  We  are  judged  according  to  our  de- 
serts. Character  is  that  which  we  all  ought  to  strive  to  obtain. 
It  is  our  privilege  to  enjoy  what  I  have  called  emotional  piety ; 
but  it  is  a  great  deal  more  important  for  us  to  have  substantial 
character  than  to  put,  now  and  then,  a  religious  interjection  into 
our  talk.  I  commend  these  interjections ;  I  believe  in  these  pious, 
religious  services.  Those  who  know  me  need  scarcely  be  told 
this ;  but  I  beg  you  not  to  suppose  that  God  can  be  deceived  by 
these  pious  phrases.  I  beg  you  not  to  think  that  a  man  can  live 
forty  years  in  iniquity,  and  throw  off  his  bad  character  as  he  would 
an  old  coat.  Character  is  a  part  of  the  man.  Wherever  the  man 
goes  the  character  goes.  As  long  as  a  man  lives,  his  identity  and 
character  live.  Changing  day  by  day,  becoming  better  as  he 
rises  higher,  but  always  under  the  eye  of  God,  and  always  reward- 
ing him  and  punishing  him  according  to  his  deserts.  Young  man, 
be  not  deceived  by  the  idea  that,  in  any  manner  or  way,  God  can 
be  "mocked."  God's  verdict  can  not  be  set  aside.  I  tell  you 
that  if  you  go  into  the  ocean,  God  is  there ;  if  you  go  to  Califor- 
nia or  Europe,  God  is  there  :  in  the  light,  in  the  darkness,  wher- 
ever you  are,  the  judgment  seat  is  before  you  and  you  before  it. 

And  now,  brethren  and  friends,  I  would  like,  in  a  very  few  words, 
to  put  by  the  side  of  this  representation  as  to  the  manner  in  which 
culprits  are  often  treated  and  regarded,  my  own  idea  of  what  is 
sound  doctrine.  If  I  were  called  to  administer  to  a  man  who  was 
to  be  hung  to-morrow,  I  would  not  say  to  him,  "  If  you  repent  of 
your  sins  and  are  sorry,  the  consequences  of  all  your  guilt  will  be 
wiped  away,  and  you  stand  abreast  with  the  most  valiant  soldier 
of  the  cross  of  Christ."  I  could  not  say  that,  because  it  is  a  mis- 
representation and  a  great  untruth.  I  would  say  to  him,  **  My 
brother,  I  am  sorry  for  you  ;  you  are  in  a  bad  condition  ;  you  are 


APPENDIX.  421 

scarred  all  over  with  sin,  but  God  is  your  father  and  friend.  He 
sent  his  Son  to  die  for  sinners.  Put  yourself  in  the  best  frame  of 
mind  you  can ;  begin  to  retrace  your  steps ;  walk  toward  Zion 
the  few  day  that  remain,  and  every  step  you  take  this  side  of  the 
grave  is  so  much  ground  re-won,  and  you  are  all  the  better  pre- 
pared to  go  home."  That,  I  think,  is  Christian  morality  ;  and  as 
I  would  say  it  to  the  worst  culprit,  so  I  would  say  it  to  myself  and 
to  you.  "  Be  not  deceived ;  God  is  not  mocked.  For  whatever 
a  man  soweth  that  shall  he  also  reap."  This,  I  believe,  is  the 
teaching  of  the  New  Testament,  and  is  illustrated  and  verified  by 
every  sound  maxim  in  moral  philosophy. 


ii. 


TO  HANG  OR  NOT  TO  HANG. 


We  copy  the  following  from  the  Christian  Union, 
to  show  that  the  abolition  of  the  death  penalty  is 
fast  becoming  the  sentiment  of  the  people : 

The  fairest  morning  of  this  spring  was  made  horrible  to  a 
whole  city  by  the  black  shadow  of  the  gallows  which  stretched 
across  it  and  seemed  to  put  out  the  sunshine.  All  imaginations 
turned  to  the  prison-yard,  seeing  a  pallid,  shuddering  wretch 
snatch  one  hungry,  hopeless  look  at  the  brilliant  day,  then  hide 
his  face  with  his  shaking  hand,  while  the  sheriffs  shortened  the 
ceremonies  of  the  dreadful  waiting  lest  he  should  die  of  fear  OR 
the  very  drop,  and  so  affront  the  majesty  of  the  law.  It  was  the 
anticipated  horror  of  that  spectacle  which  roused  much  of  the 
morbid  sympathy  with  Foster.  It  is  the  sickening  remembrance 
of  it  which  will  withhold  future  juries  from  convicting.  A  juror, 
solemnized  by  his  oath,  moved  too  often  to  pity  by  the  black- 
robed,  woeful  presence  of  the  prisoner's  wife  or  mother  or  child, 
touched  by  the  appeals  of  cunning  counsel,  cannot  be  made  to 
remember  that  he  is  to  pronounce  upon  the  evidence  regardless 
of  the  penal  consequences  it  may  entail.  In  effect,  he  becomes 
the  judge,  and  he  will  not  condemn  a  fellow-man  to  death  save  in 
phenomenal  instances. 

If  it  can  be  proven  that  the  gallows  represses  murder,  then 
press  and  pulpit  must  unite  to  overcome  this  sentimental  weak- 
ness in  the  community.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  shown  that 
the  fear  of  the  gibbet  does  not  restrain  the  homicidal  mind,  then 
public  opinion  must  be  aroused  to  demand  its  abolition.  For 

4" 


APPENDIX.  423 

society  can  punish  only  for  the  well-being  of  society.  Any  other 
notion  of  the  functions  of  penal  law  is  simple  barbarism. 

In  the  city  of  New  York  alone  there  have  occurred  one  hun- 
dred and  forty-one  known  murders  within  three  years.  There 
have  also  occurred  precisely  two  executions.  It  is  estimated  that 
one-half  of  the  doers  of  murder  escape  arrest,  and  that  four-fifths 
of  the  captive  moiety  escape  conviction.  There  are  now  in  the 
tombs  fifteen  murderers  of  ascertained  guilt,  with  several  more 
whose  crime  is  not  yet  proven.  All  of  these  fifteen  expect  to  es- 
cape punishment  through  a  disagreement  of  the  jury  or  through 
technicalities  of  law.  Their  hope  is  doubtless  well  founded.  It 
seems  clear  that  if  the  death-rate  is  to  be  two  in  one  hundred 
and  forty-one,  the  scaffold  is  a  lax  and  careless  guardian  of  public 
safety. 

In  Massachusetts,  perhaps  the  most  law-abiding  of  the  states, 
there  are  fifty-one  homicides  in  the  Charlestown  prison,  twenty- 
two  of  them  being  under  life-sentence.  Within  the  last  nineteen 
years  Massachusetts  has  permitted  herself,  we  think,  twelve  exe- 
cutions, the  result  being  that  the  ratio  of  murders  has  increased 
faster  than  that  of  population.  In  1865,  sixteen  persons  were 
committed  for  murder  and  twelve  for  manslaughter.  In  1872, 
several  executions  having  intervened,  thirty-eight  commitments 
for  murder  and  twenty-two  for  manslaughter  were  recorded,  the 
number  having  doubled  in  the  seven  years.  Of  these,  four  men 
were  convicted  of  murder  and  eleven  of  manslaughter ;  three 
times  as  many  as  in  1865.  If  it  be  said  that,  had  these  men  suf- 
fered hanging  instead  of  imprisonment,  lawless  violence  would 
have  been  checked,  it  may  be  answered  that  it  was  the  opinion  of 
the  closest  legal  observers  that  Alley  really  gained  his  acquittal 
because  McElhaney  lay  under  sentence  of  imminent  death  in  the 
jail  close  at  hand.  The  jury  could  pot  forget  that  threatening 
scaffold.  ' 

Rhode  Island,  next  neighbor  to  Massachusetts,  decided,  twenty 
years  ago,  that  the  death-penalty  was  a  mistake,  and  changed  the 
punishment  for  murder  to  imprisonment  for  life.  Her  governors, 
state  officers,  supreme  judges,  and  prison  wardens  agree  that  life 
is  made  safer  thereby.  Her  chief  justice  testifies  that  he  opposed 
the  passage  of  the  act,  but  adds  that  "  conviction  for  murder  is 


424  APPENDIX. 

far  more  certain  now,  in  proper  cases,  than  when  death  was  the 
punishment  for  it."  The  warden  of  the  State  Prison  testified  in 
1868:  "  The  crime  of  murder  has  not  been  more  frequent  since 
the  abolition  of  the  death-penalty.  On  the  contrary,  considering 
the  increase  of  population,  it  has  diminished." 

It  is  twenty-seven  years  since  Michigan  abrogated  capital  pun- 
ishment. During  the  first  thirteen  years  thereafter  there  were 
thirty  convictions  for  murder  in  a  population  of  six  hundred 
thousand.  In  the  fourteen  years  next  succeeding,  there  were  but 
twenty-six  convictions  in  a  population  of  nine  hundred  thousand. 

Wisconsin  gave  up  the  gallows  in  1853.  In  his  recent  report 
Governor  Washburne  says  :  "  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the 
change  in  the  law  has  rendered  punishment  more  certain,"  but  for 
which  change,  "  at  least  one-half  of  those  heretofore  convicted 
would  have  escaped  all  punisnment,  so  difficult  is  conviction 
where  the  penalty  is  death.  From  1848  to  1853, 1  have  no  knowl- 
edge of  more  than  one  person  having  suffered  the  extreme  penalty 
of  the  law.  This  was  not  because  of  lack  of  offenses,  but  of  the 
extreme  difficulty  of  conviction."  Other  competent  testimony 
declares  the  old  law  to  have  been  practically  a  nullity  in  Wiscon- 
sin for  ten  years  before  its  abolition. 

Maine,  while  recognizing  capital  punishment,  forbids  its  inflic- 
tion for  one  year  after  conviction,  and  then  empowers  the  gover- 
nor to  order  the  murderer  to  execution  or  to  detain  him  in  prison, 
as  the  well-being  of  the  State  seems  to  demand.  The  result  is 
that  there  have  been  but  two  executions  in  forty  years,  while  con-, 
viction  is  nearly  certain.  The  law  of  Vermont  and  that  of  Kansas 
are  similar,  and  show  like  results.  Iowa  abolished  hanging  last 
spring,  and,  of  course,  no  relative  statistics  yet  justify  or  condemn 
the  innovation.  Indiana,  Minnesota,  and  Illinois  already  begin  to 
consider  the  expediency  of  like  action. 

We  have  purposely  ignored  consideration  of  the  criminal  and 
the  Scriptural  plea  for  the  death-penalty.  The  remorseless  fact 
is  that  murders  multiply  and  that  convictions  decrease.  The  in- 
stant need  is  the  protection  of  society.  A  law  that  cannot  be 
enforced  provokes  lawlessness.  Not  only  common-sense  but 
public  safety  demands  its  repeal.  If  the  punishment  of  murder 
were  imprisonment  for  life ;  if  the  pardoning  power  were  vested 


APPENDIX.  425 

only  in  a  high  court  of  pardons,  and  hedged  about  with  difficult 
conditions;  if  no  new  trial  could  be  granted  on  technicalities, 
but  only  upon  new  and  vital  evidence  tending  to  acquittal,  who 
doubts  that  half  the  murders  of  the  past  three  years  would  have 
been  left  undone  ?  The  penalties  that  God  affixes  to  outraged 
law  are  not  vengeful  nor  bloody.  They  are  logical,  swift,  awful 
through  their  certainty.  When  our  human  legislation  shall  dis- 
criminate between  certain  penalty  and  fitful  punishment,  murder 
will  not  walk  abroad  unhindered  in  our  streets,  nor  fools  make  a 
mock  at  sin. 


III. 


PAUPERISM  AND  COMPULSORY  EDUCA- 
TION. 


[From  the  National  Independent  of  Philadelphia,  Pa.] 

"  And  if  it  were  done,  what  pleasure  shall  the  compelled  party  have  of  the 
compellor,  or  what  trust  can  the  compellor  have  of  the  compelled." — Life  of 
Sir  T.  Smith. 

The  subject  of  compulsory  education  is  again  agitated  in  the 
board  of  education,  of  our  public  schools.  An  act  of  the  legisla- 
ture making  it  universal  without  provision  made  for  a  class,  or 
classes,  whose  associations,  antecedents,  and  habits  are  diametri- 
cally opposite  to  those  who  now  enjoy  the  benefit  of  our  public 
schools,  would  not  only  be  improper,  but  highly  injurious. 

Compulsion  here  would  be  to  strike  at  the  moral  root  of  our 
public  schools,  and  at  once  sap  the  foundation  of  their  purity  and 
usefulness.  Such  a  law  would  be  wrong  in  principle,  impolitic ; 
and  one  to  which  the  people  would  not  willingly  submit.  The 
parents  of  those  children  for  whom  the  law  more  particularly  ap- 
plies, are,  or  at  least  many  of  them,  paupers,  incapable  of  supply- 
ing their  families  with  the  common  necessaries  of  life,  but  relying 
in  a  great  measure  on  their  children  for  support.  Our  city  is 
filled  with  a  vast  number  of  this  class,  for  whose  moral  training 
there  is  no  one  responsible.  Is  it  not,  therefore,  the  great  duty 
of  the  city  to  take  charge  of  them,  provide  for  and  educate  them 
without  the  consent  of  their  drunken,  disreputable  parents? 
Keep  them  away  from  the  influences  which  are  gradually  prepar- 
ing them  for  crime,  and  if  a  parent  should  resist  these  tendencies 

326 


APPENDIX.  427 

of  the  law,  place  him  in  the  house  of  correction,  for  his  reform  is 
just  as  essential  as  is  that  of  his  children.  If  something  of  this 
kind  is  not  done  for  this  class,  they  will  grow  up  as  thieves  and 
vagabonds.  It  is  said  there  are  now  5,000  children  anxious  to 
get  into  our  public  schools,  but,  owing  to  their  already  crowded 
state,  they  must  "abide  their  time."  Then  come  those  classes 
for  which  compulsory  education  is  demanded,  the  whole  numbers 
of  which  is  estimated  at  20,000 !  The  greater  portion  of  these 
are  idlers,  vagrants,  and  thieves ;  others,  again,  accustomed  to  a 
sort  of  Bohemian  life,  are  ungovernable,  willful,  and  whose  parents 
are  as  ready  to  encourage  them  in  idleness,  as  they  would  disre- 
gard the  rules  and  regulations  of  our  schools.  Such  parents  will 
be  the  antagonists  to  any  law  compelling  them  to  send  their  chil- 
dren to  school  on  compulsion.  Enforcement  of  such  a  law, 
would  be  to'send  the  father  to  prison,  for  the  non-payment  of  the 
fine,  and  give  his  children  up  to  starvation ! 

That  education  is  essential  to  the  welfare  of  all  classes,  as  it  is 
one  of  the  main  pillars  of  a  government  and  a  permanent  source 
of  blessing,  there  can  not  be  a  question  of  doubt,  but  the  mode 
of  imparting  such  education  to  all  classes  has  not  been  estab- 
lished. 

When  we  look  at  the  condition  of  our  country — when  we  see 
cities  overflowing  with  population,  with  dens  of  vice  and  misery 
multiplying  and  becoming  more  and  more  crowded  with  the  chil- 
dren of  misery,  want  and  crime,  when  we  observe  how  poor 
humanity  is  thrust  into  holes  to  live  in  poverty  and  die  in  destitu- 
tion because  the  surface  of  the  land  can  afford  no  better  resting- 
place,  when  we  see  thousands  huddled  together  with  pestilence, 
filth  and  dirt  surrounding  them,  and  eddying  into  one  common 
center,  and  then  diffused  to  contaminate  others,  when  these  things 
meet  our  eye  is  it  not  natural  that  we  should  ask :  "Are  they 
necessary  evils  in  the  world?"  What  is  the  cause?  And  if  they 
are  not  necessary,  why  do  we  not  seek  for  some  preventive— some 
cure — some  remedy  ?  They  are  not  necessary.  It  is  a  blasphe- 
mous imputation  on  Providence  to  say  that  God  made  the  earth 
so  full  of  beauty,  comfort  and  plenty  for  his  children,  that  these 
outcasts,  these  miserable  destitute  wretches,  should  live  and  die 
amid  such  scenes  as  described.  It  were  a  gross  impiety  to  assert 


428  APPENDIX. 

that  the  world  was  made  for  sin  and  suffering,  and  that  crime  in 
high  places,  hypocrisy  in  the  temples,  usurped  the  rights  of  the 
moral  and  the  just. 

OFFICIAL    CORRUPTION. 

The  manifest  and  tatal  disregard  of  good  faith  and  integrity  on 
the  part  of  public  officers  is  now  attracting  general  attention 
and  considerable  comment  among  the  people.  What  mode  of 
redress  may  be  resorted  to,  it  is  impossible  to  say;  but  one  thing 
is  certain,  and  that  is  if  we  wait  for  the  present  race  of  office- 
holders to  enforce  the  law  and  apply  the  corrective,  we  will  be 
sadly  disappointed.  "  Dog  won't  eat  dog,"  and,  as  all  public  men 
are  tainted  with  the  same  odor,  and  under  the  same  bad  influence, 
and  are  affected  by  the  same  depravity,  they  cannot — nay,  they 
dare  not — pursue  the  offenders  to  conviction.  . 

Each  act  of  the  officials  in  regard  to  the  recent  disclosures  in 
the  treasury,  tax  receivers  and  in  councils,  clearly  indicate  a  pre- 
vailing disposition  to  effect  a  full  and  complete  discharge  of  all 
the  offenders,  and  thereby  punish  the  tax-payers  (!).  Is  this  not 
true  in  relation  to  all  official  plunders,  county,  state  and  national  ? 
Can  we  account  for  this  obliquity  of  morals  ?  Let  us  see :  has 
not  the  teaching  of  the  whole  nation  for  the  last  eight  years  been 
marked  with  an  obvious  tendency  toward  a  relaxing  of  morals, 
and  at  the  same  time  to  promote  corruption,  and  a  want  of  politi- 
cal fidelity,  so  that  our  office-holders  have  become  men  "  without 
understanding,  covenant  breakers,  without  natural  affection,  im- 
placable, unmerciful."  They  have  been  led,  if  not  encouraged, 
to  this,  by  men  in  high  places.  It  has  been  justified,  if  not 
directly  taught,  in  our  schools ;  preached  from  the  sacred  desk, 
and  proclaimed  from  the  political  rostrum.  The  people,  the 
source  of  all  power,  have  become  effeminate,  and  the  natural  re- 
sult of  all  this  is  that  our  "  princes  are  rebellious  and  companions 
of  thieves;  every  one  loveth  gifts  and  followeth  after  reward." 
While  this  is  so,  we  can  only  pray  that  our  judge  may  be  restored 
as  at  the  first. 

We  would  not  be  cynical,  nor  would  we  set  down  ought  in 
malice,  but  the  ore  is  so  deep,  the  rottenness  so  thorough,  that  the 


APPENDIX. 


429 


remedy  must  be  radical,  the  language  plain,  and  of  undoubted 
purport.  The  wrong-doers  have  become  a  host ;  society  is  per- 
meated with  loose  notions  of  moral  obligations,  and  false  theories 
of  the  rights  and  duties  of  a  citizen.  All  politicians,  from  the 
president  down  to  street  supervisors,  are  the  consorts  of  thieves. 
In  no  other  way  can  we  account  for  the  fact  that  men  are  appointed 
to  great  public  trusts,  who  are  utterly  deficient  in  every  attribute 
of  a  gentleman ;  hence  we  read  daily  of  nothing  but  frauds  and 
peculation  on  the  part  of  those,  their  appointees.  History 
teaches  that  in  time  of  public  agitation  and  tumult  the  worst  of 
men  arise  to  power.  Is  this  not  pre-eminently  true  in  our  case? 
and  has  not  the  late  war  raised  to  official  positions,  dignity,  and 
pride  men  of  the  baser  sort — men  who  have  been  notorious  for 
nothing  but  profligate  lives,  a  mean  truckling  to  party  dictation, 
and  panderers  to  wrong  and  crime?  Such  are  our  rulers,  and  the 
people  mourn. 

If  there  be  virtue  enough  left  in  the  body  politic  to  found  a 
hope  upon,  let  it  be  brought  forth,  for  except  we  stop  now,  at  once, 
in  our  mad  career,  and  hold  every  man  who  is  guilty  of  official 
malfeasance  or  misfeasance  personally  to  a  strict  accountability 
for  their  misdoings,  we  as  a  nation  will  be  utterly  ruined,  and  so 
degraded  in  public  estimation  that  we  will  become  a  "  perpetual 
hissing," — every  one  that  passeth  thereby  shall  be  astonished  and 
wag  their  heads.  They  will  say  that  no  people  ever  paid  so 
dearly  for  their  liberties  and  parted  with  them  so  cheaply.* 


*The  New  York  Tribune  complains  that  a  man  convicted  of  pilfering  a 
money-letter  from  the  mail,  in  Chicago,  has  been  pardoned,  and  seeks  to  draw 
public  attention  to  its-  consequences.  We  have  no  more  sympathy  with  petty 
crime  than  we  have  with  large  ones,  but  we  suggest  that  it  is  small  business  to 
complain  of  this  particular  pardon  so  soon  after  the  adjournment  of  the  Credit 
Mobilier  Congress,  and  while  eminent  and  distinguished  statesmen  are  contend- 
ing in  the  United  States  Senate  that  successful  bribery  is  not  a  disqualifying 
offense.  So  long  as  Senators  can  boast  that  they  purchased  their  seats  in  the 
Senate  at  a  cost  of  from  $50,000  to  $80,000  each,  and  so  long  as  the  House  re- 
fuses to  expel  those  who  offered  and  paid  bribes  to  its  members,  refuses  to  cen- 
sure even  those  who  accepted  the  bribes,  it  is  a  small  business  to  talk  about  the 
escape  of  a  man  convicted  of  taking  a  few  dollars  from  the  mails.  Is  it  not 
straining  at  a  gnat  and  swallowing  a  camel  to  be  demanding  that  a  man  be 
placed  ten  years  in  the  penitentiary  for  stealing  ten  dollars,  and  at  the  same  time 


430  APPENDIX. 

But  there  is  a  remedy,  and  that  remedy,  is  education.  And  yet 
the  skeptic  will  say,  what  has  education  done  for  those  who  swindle 
the  community — What  has  education  done  for  the  corrupt  legisla- 
tor, the  politicians,  and  the  financier  ?  An  educated  rogue  is  the 
most  dangerous  to  society.  The  poor  man  who  steals  a  loaf  of 
bread  to  save  his  children  from  starvation  finds  no  mercy,  while 
the  well  dressed  speculator  filches  millions,  is  dined  by  his  accom- 
plices, wined  by  his  tools,  and  his  felony  compromised,  after  con- 
viction. 

Now  we  contend  that  to  compel  these  20,000  pauper  children 
to  attend  our  public  schools  without  undergoing  some  reformatory 
process  is  perfect  nonsense.  It  would  be  like  placing  Satan  in 
paradise,  or  turning  the  waters  of  the  "  Dead  Sea  "  (if  it  could  be 
done  geographically)  into  the  pure  water  of  the  river  Schuylkill. 
What  is  the  remedy  ? 

RESCUE  AND  REFORMATORY  SCHOOLS. 

Rescue  schools  is  one  of  the  means  for  "  Suppressing  Juvenile 
Depravity."  Will  our  public  schools  open  their  doors  for  the 

give  an  "  ovation"  and  a  public  dinner  to  the  chief  of  a  gang  that  stole  thirty- 
five  millions  of  dollars,  and  with  it  debauched  the  legislation  of  Congress  and 
the  veracity  of  its  members  ?  It  has  been  but  a  few  months  when  an  entire 
political  party  either  demanded  or  applauded  the  pardon  of  a  person  convicted 
of  robbing  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  the  election  of  a  president  seeming  to  de- 
pend on  the  release  of  this  convict.  Three  months  later,  a  man  convicted  of 
illegal  voting  and  perjury  was  promptly  pardoned  by  the  President.  There 
has  been  no  person  convicted,  during  the  last  four  years,  of  robbing  the  United 
States  Treasury,  who  has  not  been  pardoned.  Why  complain  of  the  escape  of 
a  man  convicted  of  a  comparatively  petty  offense,  when  three  hundred  mem- 
bers of  Congress  each  took  $5,000  from  the  Public  Treasury  without  any  war- 
rant of  law  other  than  their  own  votes  ?  Public  sentiment  upon  the  subject  of 
crimes  against  the  United  States  Treasury  has  been  debauched ;  even  among 
the  religious  classes  in  New  York  there  are  found  those  who  defraud  the  revenue 
by  false  oaths  and  forged  invoices,  and  who,  when  caught,  expect,  as  a  matter 
of  right,  to  escape  punishment  for  the  crime  by  paying  the  money  back,  and  are 
allowed  to  go  free.  The  attempted  robbery  in  the  Chorpenning  case,  and  the 
actual  fraud  upon  the  Treasury  in  the  Secor  case,  have  been  condoned  by  the 
reappointments  of  Creswell  and  Robeson  to  the  Cabinet,  and  the  whole  Civil 
Service  of  the  country  has  been  advised  that  there  is  no  really  degrading  crime 
that  a  public  officer  can  commit,  except  stealing  money  out  of  a  letter,  or  op- 
posing the  re-election  of  the  member  of  Congress  from  his  district. — Chicago 
Tribune. 


APPENDIX.  431 

classes  named  ?  No  !  unless  by  legislative  compulsion.  Will  those 
men,  and  legislators  who  advocate  "Compulsory  Education" 
clothe  these  20,000  children,  so  that  they  could  appear  in  their 
proper  places  at  school,  or  would  they  drag  them  in  by  main  force 
in  all  their  dirt  and  filth  to  startle,  astonish  and  drive  the  better 
class  out  ?  When  we  say  better  class,  it  is  not  making  a  distinc- 
tion between  rich  and  poor,  but  between  vice  and  virtue.  That 
class  they  now  attempt  to  force  into  our  schools  are,  as  we  have 
said,  the  children  of  the  lost  and  abandoned,  their  condition  is 
one  that  calls  forth  all  our  sympathies.  Their  drunken  parents 
maltreat  them — starve,  and  drive  them  to  begging.  Often  with- 
out a  home,  without  clothes,  without  food,  they  beg  and  steal 
from  necessity.  Give  them  food  and  clothing  first ;  educate  them 
afterwards.  Our  police  reports  place  on  the  criminal  records 
many  instances  of  children  sent  to  prison  for  petty  crimes.  The 
novelty  of  a  prison,  instead  of  reforming  them,  suits  the  'Bohe- 
mian notion  of  life  in  prison.  They  recall  the  story  of  Jack 
Sheppard,*  Paul  Clifford,  and  other  celebrated  highwaymen. 
Thus  repeated  short  imprisonments  prepare  them  for  the  patient 
endurance  of  a  longer;  and,  having  served  three  or  four  short  and 
one  or  two  long  ones,  they  are  considered  eligible  for  a  sentence 
of  still  a  much  longer  period.  Thus,  we  have  the  "  School  for 
Rogues,"  established  under  a  mistaken  notion  that  children  of  a 
tender  age  are  rogues  in  grain  and  should  be  punished. 

*  When  the  drama  of  Jack  Sheppard  was  first  played  in  this  city,  one  of  the 
city  magistrates  informed  us  that  he  had  committed  thirty  young  Jack  Shep- 
pards  (so  calling  themselves)  during  the  first  two  months  of  its  representation. 
The  stage  has  a  powerful  influence  on  the  morals  of  youth,  either  for  good  or 
evil. 


S1Q-LD,  AUG18  1968  6  5 


